COVID-19 Operations and Learning Plan

Wiseburn is currently operating in a Distance Learning Instruction Model for general education. Our goal remains to bring students back to campuses as soon as it is safe and permitted to do so.

Due to the rapidly improving COVID-19 metrics, Wiseburn is working to finalize plans for a prospective return to in-person instruction for some of our students starting in early March. With support from our principals, staff, parents/caregivers, and district administrators, site-based meetings are underway and representatives from these meetings will meet for a district level committee to finalize schedules.

Beginning on November 2, 2020, we launched the first phase of our plan to bring in some students with specialized learning needs for in-person assessments and cohorts, and this continues to run on our school site campuses. By implementing health and safety protocols, Wiseburn has not experienced on-site transmission of the virus during these in-person services. 

When and if we meet the criteria to reopen more broadly for general education, Wiseburn aims to reopen with these strict health and safety protocols in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on our campuses.

For more on our reopening, please see the answer for the question below on school reopenings.

Reopening schools during a pandemic is a public health decision. While Wiseburn aims to reopen for in-person instruction as soon as possible, our reopening decisions are guided by the most up-to-date guidance we receive from public health experts, as well as all state and local directives which we must follow.

In January 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released a new framework for reopening that has now consolidated and superseded all past directives. Among the new requirements, CDPH determined that schools in the Widespread (Purple) Tier that have not physically reopened for in-person instruction already cannot proceed with a physical reopening of grades TK-6 until their county is at or below a COVID-19 adjusted case rate of 25/100,000 residents. This case rate reflects recommendations from the Harvard Global Health Institute analysis of safe school reopening policy.

Some schools in Los Angeles County obtained a TK-2 waiver from the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LADPH) that they were able to implement before COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County skyrocketed in December 2020 that allowed them to reopen in part. Unfortunately, Wiseburn was granted the waiver in December amid the beginnings of the holiday spike and just a few weeks from Winter Break. At this point, reopening was discouraged by county health officials (and our own community) due to the rapidly increasing spread.

Because the new state framework was then issued, Wiseburn was not able to reopen under the LADPH’s TK-2 waiver at any point and therefore does meet the criteria for being a school that has already physically reopened. This predicament is where a majority of schools in Los Angeles County find themselves due to the limited nature of the issuance of waivers by LADPH last year.

However, those schools who were able to reopen in part under the TK-2 waiver, even for a short period of time, are exempt from the required metrics for reopening under the new state framework. Thus, some schools are operating, while neighboring schools may not be. This guidance may shift in the coming weeks, but in the meantime leaves Wiseburn unable to reopen for TK-6 instruction.

Yes. Due to the rapidly improving COVID-19 metrics, Wiseburn is working to finalize plans for a prospective return to in-person instruction for some of our students starting in early March.

Under the state's new reopening framework, schools that have not previously reopened may reopen once the COVID-19 adjusted case rate in Los Angeles County is at, or below, 25/100,000 residents.

Once the county reaches this milestone, the state will allow for the reopening of schools for grades TK-6. The reopening will be in a hybrid model/schedule and will be required to follow very strict health and safety protocols.

Schools may not reopen for grades 7-12 if the county is in the Widespread (Purple) tier under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. However, schools may reopen all grades if they are located in counties in the Red, Orange or Yellow Tiers under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

Wiseburn's prospective reopening in March will be staggered, starting with our youngest learners, prioritizing TK-2. Taking this approach will allow us to maximize social distancing and health and safety in our buildings. We intend to expand our in-person instruction offerings to include grades 3-5 as permitted by state and local health directives within a short time of the TK-2 launch (one to two weeks).

The new state framework prioritizes younger learners who may have the most difficulty in adjusting to a distance learning model of instruction. While TK-6 may open under specific conditions while in the Widespread (Purple) tier of transmission, schools may not reopen for grades 7-12 if the county is in the Widespread (Purple) tier.

However, schools may reopen at all grades if they are located in counties in the Red, Orange or Yellow Tiers under the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

We will still be providing students, families, and caregivers with the choice to opt in or out for in-person education if and when we are able to provide it. In the event of a physical school reopening, families will have an option for either our in-person learning or our distance learning model.

Teachers are not required to receive the vaccine for schools to reopen. At Wiseburn, we do continue to encourage our staff to sign up to receive the vaccine as soon as possible.

Currently, students are not required to receive the vaccine to return to school. Further, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, children will not be offered the vaccine in the near future. The Pfizer vaccine has only been authorized by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for people age 16 and over and the Moderna vaccine is only authorized for people age 18 and over.

The most critical aspect of our ability to bring students back is our implementation of cleaning and safety operations to mitigate outbreaks of COVID-19 and reduce the risk to our community.

Those returning to campus can expect some of the following enhanced cleaning and safety operations as required by Wiseburn policy and the LADPH Reopening Protocols for K-12 Schools:

• All students, staff, visitors, and other stakeholders are required to wear face coverings when on District grounds.
• Students will remain in stable cohorts of no more than 12 students throughout the day with two supervising adults.
• All staff, students, parents/caregivers, and other essential visitors will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19 on a daily basis at the entry point and before physically entering the site.
• Staff members will be provided the appropriate PPE including face masks, face shields, and gloves. PPE will be provided to students upon request. Wiseburn will also provide desktop plexiglass shields and hand sanitizer stations.
• The District will coordinate with the custodial staff to be sure all assessment locations and associated materials are regularly and sufficiently cleaned and disinfected to LADPH and CDC standards. Our custodians have checklists and sign off on cleaning assignments at their required intervals on a consistent schedule.
• Site administrators will continually send information to our families about ongoing safe and healthy practices at each site to ensure community compliance.
• Doors will be opened to allow for outside to inside air exchange, instead of only recycled air.
• Air filters on air conditioning units will be replaced every 3 months.
• Learning will take place outdoors when possible.

To read our full list of protocols, please see our Health and Safety protocols page.

At Wiseburn, testing for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) will be available for all staff — and for students once they are permitted to return — at minimum once per week. Results will be available to the patient and District with 24-48 hours of test administration.

More specifically, as defined by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), there are several circumstances under which a student or staff member might undergo testing. Below, we outline these circumstances and considerations for testing implementation in K-12 schools:

• Symptomatic testing: This testing is used for individuals with symptoms of COVID-19, either at home or at school. In this situation, the school guidance requires that these individuals stay home and isolate in case they are infectious. The Guidance includes the possibility of return to school in the case of a negative test for SARS-CoV-2 and 24 hours after fever is resolved and symptoms are improving.
• Response testing: This testing is used to identify positive individuals once a case has been identified in a given stable group. Response-based testing can be provided for symptomatic individuals or for asymptomatic individuals with known or suspected exposure to an individual infected with SARS-CoV-2.
• Asymptomatic testing: This testing can be used for surveillance, usually at a cadence of every 2 weeks or less frequently, to understand whether schools have higher or lower rates of COVID19 rates than the community, to guide decisions about safety for schools and school administrators, and to inform LHDs about district level in-school rates. Asymptomatic testing can also be used for screening, usually at a higher cadence (weekly or twice weekly) than 39 surveillance testing, to identify asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic cases, in order to exclude cases that might otherwise contribute to in-school transmission. Screening testing is indicated for situations associated with higher risk (higher community transmission, individuals at higher risk of transmission (e.g., adults and high school students transmit more effectively than elementary aged students).

Per the CDPH’s testing recommendations, while Los Angeles County remains in the Widespread (purple) tier of COVID-19 transmission with an adjusted case rate above 14/100,000 residents, they recommend the following testing protocol:

• For staff: Symptomatic and response testing plus weekly asymptomatic (PCR or twice weekly antigen testing)
• For students (upon return): Symptomatic and response testing plus weekly asymptomatic (PCR or twice weekly antigen testing)

Used in conjunction with other mitigation strategies, testing for COVID-19 provides an additional tool to support safe and successful K-12 in-person instruction. Testing can allow for early identification of cases and exclusion from school to prevent transmission.

Contact your school site secretary directly:

Juan de Anza Elementary School: Susan Castellanos (scastellanos@wiseburn.org)
138th Street School: Kristian Forte-Hill (kforte@wiseburn.org)
Juan Cabrillo Elementary School: Laura Nilsson (lnilsson@wiseburn.org)
Dana Middle School: Sarah Moulton (smoulton@wiseburn.org)

Parents and caretakers should review the Parent Guide to Reopening Schools for 2020-2021 (English / Español) and follow all applicable safety measures, including conducting self-screenings and wearing a mask.

Generally, all families in our community can follow the recommended guidance from public health officials:

• Wear a mask in public.
• Wash your hands regularly.
• Keep at least six feet of physical distance when in public.
• Limit mixing with people you don't live with.

In fall of 2020, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, with support and guidance from the Board of Supervisors, offered a waiver opportunity whereby schools, if approved, could bring back students only in grades TK - 2 upon approval by Public Health. The waiver was not automatically granted and no school could reopen for full TK – 2 in classroom instruction until Public Health had communicated approval.

The waiver program was subject to the following limitations:

• Up to 50 schools were granted approvals each week; additional schools were approved in a given week if there weren’t 50 approvals each of the prior weeks.
• Prioritization for all slots was given to schools with higher percentages of students qualifying for Free or Reduced-Price Meals (FRPM)
• The 50 schools per week were equally distributed between the five Supervisorial Districts.

Wiseburn did apply for and was granted the waiver in the final week before waivers were stopped from being issued due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. However, under new state guidance, the waiver’s reopening conditions are superseded by the state's stricter framework.
 

Keeping lines of communication open to our community is important to us. As such, we have some feedback options available to the community should they want to communicate with our District staff and school board collectively.

To submit a public comment that is read into the record at our school board meetings, please use the form link listed on our BoardDocs page. Submissions to the form are accepted until 2 p.m. PST the day of the upcoming board meeting. If you wish to read your public comment live at an upcoming Board meeting, please indicate so on the form and during the public comment portion of the meeting, your stated email address will be added so you may read your comment live. These comments are public and heard by the District, school board, and community at large during our open session board meetings.

To submit feedback less formally, utilize our feedback form listed on our homepage (you can also click here: Share your thoughts with WUSD (English) / Comparta sus pensamientos con WUSD (Spanish)). This form is for submitting thoughts to Wiseburn that typically do not require follow-up and is viewed only by District staff and the school board.

Refer to the Contact section below to see if there's a specific person who may be able to best answer your question. Otherwise, send an email with your question to communication@wiseburn.org. Please add “FAQ” to the subject line of the email.