Laguna Beach Unified School District to apply for elementary school waiver

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board of education voted unanimously to apply for an elementary school waiver in its meeting on Thursday.

In doing so and if approved, the district would be able to open the doors of its two elementary schools — El Morro and Top of the World — on or prior to Sept. 22, the latest target date for Orange County to be able to reopen all schools.

When the county came off the state’s COVID-19 watch list on Aug. 23, it meant at the time that county schools would be able to open without a waiver on Sept. 8.

New guidelines released by the state resulted in the new target date.

Prior to the discussion regarding the reopening of schools, more than 60 public comments took nearly an hour to be read. Those comments varied greatly given the polarizing nature of the subject.

Parents in favor of applying for the waiver questioned why the district hadn’t applied for the waiver previously and mentioned that the option of online schooling had already been given to those who did not want their children to go back to school.

Several teachers weighed in to oppose reopening classrooms, considering both health risks presented by the virus and the work it has taken for teachers to prepare their curriculum for online instruction.

By a vote of 3-0, action was taken by the board to allow for in-person services to be provided for the district’s special education preschool students, of which there are five.

Deputy Supt. Leisa Winston said that the district has 310 students eligible for special education services. Viewing in-person services for special education students from a position of equity across all grade levels, board members James Kelly and Carol Normandin abstained.

Supt. Jason Viloria indicated that with a transition to Phase II, in which school sites can open with modifications, he would like the return to in-classroom learning to take place at the start of a full week of school.

That would mean that if schools were allowed to reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 22, students would not return to the classroom until Monday, Sept. 28.

The board also voted to approve staggered starting dates for its students with hybrid learning. The reasoning behind the staggered start was because “it would allow the district to establish routines with small student numbers and address any issues that arise before introducing students in the next grade levels,” district spokeswoman Anakaren Ureno said.

In the first week at a date to be determined, elementary school students from transitional kindergarten through second grade would return on either Monday or Tuesday in their respective cohort. Third grade through fifth grade would come back on Wednesday or Thursday. All elementary school students participate in distance learning on Friday.

Middle school students would be the next to go back after the county has progressed from the “widespread” to “substantial” tier regarding its virus transmission rate.

Sixth-grade students, the new kids on campus, would go to school first, returning on Monday or Tuesday. The seventh and eighth grades would come back to school with their cohorts on Wednesday or Thursday. Again, online instruction would be in place on Friday.

High school students would go back last, and they would be split up into cohorts to manage the number of students in the classroom.

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.