San Diego Unified Sets April Target for Reopening In-Person Learning After Regional Agreement for Teacher Vaccination

San Diego Unified School District announced plans to return to in-person instruction the week of April 12, based on a regional agreement to start teacher vaccinations next week. The reopening plan would apply to all grade levels and take effect as soon as San Diego County drops back into the state’s Red Tier, teachers who wish to be vaccinated have had the opportunity to do so, and proper safety measures continue to be in place on every campus.

The district has also recognized that some parents will not feel safe sending their students back on campus at this time. For those families, online learning will continue to be an option.

Board President Richard Barrera explained that these changes are “the result of groundbreaking collaboration between our city, our county and our professional educators.” Vaccination efforts could begin as soon as March 1 with the help of emergency medical personnel who have been offered by the city to administer vaccines.

It is still unclear what in-person learning will look like exactly because the district has not released details on how many days a week it will reopen in mid-April. They will continue to prioritize getting students back in the classroom with obstacles to online learning.

Currently there are currently roughly 4,000 students visiting schools for “scheduled learning appointments,” and many more will soon be returning to more than 500 learning labs. These opportunities are largely designed to support students who face severe obstacles to online learning. They include students experiencing homelessness, English language learners and many special education students.

The San Diego County Office of Education says that some 88,000 students are now participating in a hybrid learning environment, including some time on campus. That county number would immediately double once San Diego Unified launches its own hybrid program.