In a message to elementary and middle school parents sent Tuesday evening, PUSD Superintendent Randy Booker said that because Alameda County’s COVID-19 adjusted case rates dropped below the 25 per 100,000 threshold to 23.1 per 100,000 on Feb. 2, the district was on track to return Kindergarten through 6th grades back to on-campus instruction starting Feb. 9 as long as the county numbers stay below 25 per 100,000 for the next five days.
The inclusion of 6th grade in the plan is new. Although state guidelines had okayed a return to campus for 6th graders, PUSD had not previously separated out this age group from the rest of Piedmont Middle School students. According to the timeline below, they will return for instruction on Feb. 23. According to state guidelines, 7th-12th grades are permitted back on campus when adjusted case rates fall below 7 per 100,000.
From the email:
- The Governor’s Safe Schools for All Plan permits K-6th grade students to return to campus when county-level Covid infection rates drop below 25 cases per 100,000 for five consecutive days; for grades 7-12, the rate must be less than seven cases per 100,000. Today, the case rate in Alameda County is 23.1. More details about the state’s school reopening guidelines are available here.
- As required by the California Public Health Department, PUSD submitted our COVID-19 Safety Plan (CSP) on Sunday, January 31st. You can review the COVID Safety Plan by accessing the district’s website, or by clicking on the following link.
- If the adjusted case rates remain below 25 per 100,000 (when reported on Tuesday, Feb. 9th), PUSD will begin returning students to on-campus instruction under the board-approved timeline:
Kinder – 6th Grade Return to On-Campus Instruction Timeline
| February 9th | TK continues in-person learning and Kindergarten students return. |
| Feb. 10th | 6th Grade (cohort 1) returns for Health & Safety Tours during scheduled office hours |
| Feb. 10th | TK and Kinder continue and 1st grade students return. |
| Feb. 11th | TK-1 continue and 2nd grade students return. |
| Feb. 12th | TK – 2nd grade students continue on campus. |
| Feb. 12th | 6th Grade (cohort 2) returns for Health & Safety Tours during scheduled office hours |
| Feb. 15th – 19th | February Break |
| Feb. 22nd | Distance Learning Day (as required by the MOU) |
| Feb. 23rd | TK-2nd continue and 3rd grade students return. |
| Feb. 23rd | 6th grade students return for instruction. |
| Feb. 24th | TK-3rd continue and 4th grade students return. |
| Feb. 25th | TK-4th continue and 5th grade students return. |
| Feb. 26th | TK-5th grade students continue on campus. |
A HUGE shout-out to the two Piedmont parents who pushed back on the district when they said that 6th grade could not return until AC cases drop to the red tier (<7/100k) as required for grades 7-12. One parent dug into the fine print of the new regulations and determined that, counter to what our superintendent claimed, 6th grade is in fact permitted to reopen with elementary even when the 6th graders are on another campus. Another parent then took this issue to the district and Board and kept pushing back every time she heard "no." Thanks to both of their efforts, 6th graders will be now be back in the classroom on February 23. This is what a motivated and action-oriented parent community is capable of. Brava!