Dear Berryessa Community,
Thank you for your participation in our virtual BUSD Town Hall on Monday evening. We appreciate your feedback and support as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on our students, staff and community.
For your convenience, we have created a new page on our District website titled
BUSD Reopening 2020
featuring all of the information covered in the BUSD Town Hall meeting including:
- “Share with BUSD” where you can send your questions and comments
- BUSD Town Hall Presentation by Dr. Roxane Fuentes and Dr. Joe McCreary, including Zoom video
- BUSD Updates providing links to the most recent electronic communications regarding reopening
- Reopening FAQ
- SCC Public Health Department Reopening Guidance
I would like to also take this opportunity to brief you on the latest information that has become available. Yesterday afternoon, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) and the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPHD) held a joint press conference regarding the reopening of schools for 2020-21.
It is important to note that the news media has been inaccurately reporting that Santa Clara County schools will resume in the fall. These reports are not accurate. The guidance issued yesterday does not provide direction, but rather provides requirements, recommendations, and considerations for “in person” school to the extent possible. According to SCCPHD,
“The guidance, which was developed in partnership with the County Office of Education, provides detailed direction for schools on issues such as safe practices for in-class instruction, school arrival and departure, bus transportation, use of face coverings, handwashing, school cleaning, food service, extracurricular activities, and other topics. For use by school administrators, the document explains specific actions schools should take to prevent COVID-19 transmission and to respond to possible cases in the school setting.”
"Whether schools can move forward with reopening for in-person instruction in the fall will depend on the containment of COVID-19 in the weeks ahead."
In addition, we are reminded by SCCOE and SCCPHD of the following:
“We need everyone in the community to strictly follow social distancing now so that children and teachers can safely return to school in the fall,” said County of Santa Clara Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. “Schools and other institutions in our community can operate safely if they carefully follow all recommended public health practices, and they must move forward with their preparations now to ensure they have all the measures in place.”
Please read the full SCCPHD and SCCOE joint press release
here
.
You can also access SCCPHD’s reopening schools guidance document
here
.
Our District Action Team is now reviewing and evaluating to what extent we can implement the guidance for elementary and middle school. Guidance was differentiated for both settings. We will continue to keep safety and wellbeing for staff and students as a top priority. We also recognize that families may prefer a distance learning program for various reasons and that is an option we are preparing for.
Once again, thank you to all who attended our BUSD Town Hall. Your participation was much appreciated! We will continue to update you as this process unfolds. Please be safe!
Sincerely,
Dr. Roxane Fuentes
