Jan. 25, 2021
Dear Superintendents and School Leaders,

Officials with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today ended the Regional Stay at Home Order, lifting the order for all regions statewide. The state will return to the tiered system that was being used prior to the order. San Diego County remains in the purple tier, which allows some non-essential businesses to open with modifications. See the Blueprint for a Safer Economy for details. 

This change does not impact school reopening plans. Guidance outlined in COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Instruction Framework & Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools in California released on Jan. 14 remains in effect. 

Additional Instructions for State Reopening Dashboard
The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) just released instructions to assist you with some updates made over the weekend to the fields that are being collected during the data collection window that closes today at 5 p.m. The process for registering for the database was outlined in correspondence sent Friday, and you may also find helpful the archived recording and presentation from Friday's webinar available on the CCEE website. Reference these slides for the most current details on how to submit data to the state dashboard.

All respondents will be asked to select the primary mode of instruction (the method through which the majority of students are being provided instruction) by grade span (elementary, middle, high school). In addition, charter schools and private schools are being asked to select the grade levels they are serving.

Here are some responses to some of the most frequently received questions to help with the registration and data submission process:
  • Entering data for more than one school/district: If an individual will be submitting data for more than one school/district, they only have to register once. Once they have their registration, they will be able to submit school reopening status information for each of their schools/districts.
  • Designating grade bands: We recognize that there are many variations of schools (K-3, K-5, K-6, K-8, 6-8, 4-8, etc.). Therefore, when asked to submit data by elementary, middle or high school the LEA or private schools should use their best judgement to decide on which category they choose.
  • Defining “full day”: In order to determine what is considered a full day to address the category of full in-person learning, please use the minimum minutes as identified in Senate Bill 98 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2020) passed and signed by the governor at the end of June 2020.

COVID-19 Safety Plans
To help you prepare updates to your COVID-19 Safety Plans, here are the session resources and archived recording from the CCEE's webinar last week.

We will continue to provide updates regarding the Safe Schools for All Plan, state and local dashboard reporting, and other COVID-19-related items. Thank you for all you are doing during these unprecedented times. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or need support.

Sincerely,
Paul

Dr. Paul Gothold
San Diego County Superintendent of Schools
phone: 858-295-6641