SAN DIEGO — On Friday the CDC is expected to release guidance on reopening schools across the country. The guidance comes as San Diego Unified has reached an agreement with its teacher's union that would eventually get all students back to class.
According to CBS News, those CDC guidelines could be broken down into four color-coded "zones" – fully in-person, hybrid, reduced attendance and virtual-only.
The “blue” tier would mean a community has low risk of COVID-19 transmission and thus few restrictions. The “red tier” would be the most restrictive, meaning that middle school and high school students would need to be fully virtual.
However, as we’ve seen time and time again in this pandemic, these guidelines are subject to change.
The San Diego Unified School District said in a statement that it will open whenever it is safe to do so.
The school leaders recently agreed on a “reopening framework that centers on the availability of vaccines to all school staff who wish to be vaccinated and the continued reduction of case rates in the communities surrounding schools.”
Some strategies you can expect as schools reopen:
- universal mask-wearing
- testing of symptomatic individuals
- contact tracing
- social distancing
- handwashing
- isolation and quarantine protocols
San Diego Unified said it will continue to pressure California leaders to make the COVID-19 vaccine an option for teachers that wish to get it.
Although the fall semester seems far off right now, San Diego Unified hopes to offer either online instruction or in-person learning as separate options for families.
The SDUSD teacher's union VP joined Morning Extra to talk about getting kids back in class.