Lebec, Frazier Park, CA (Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020)— Due to the surge in coronavirus infections in California, this evening El Tejon Unified School District Superintendent Sara Haflich announced a reluctant return to distance learning for students, from kindergarten through high school. Beginning Monday, Dec. 7 through Friday, January 15, all classes will be held by computer only. The district had re-opened tentatively, so students had in-person school classes two days a week, learning by computer classes for the balance of the week.
Here is the Superintendent’s letter:
December 3, 2020
Dear ETUSD Families,
It is with a heavy heart, and much thought, that ETUSD is making the hard but wise decision to go back to full distance learning beginning Monday, December 7th – Friday, January 15.th This decision has been made because all of the projected numbers showing a huge increase in COVID cases due to the holiday season along with the knowledge that many ETUSD families traveled over Thanksgiving, and will be traveling over Christmas Break. We would like to be proactive in protecting our students, staff, and ultimately our community, rather than being on the defense and forced to shut down due to an increase in positive cases within our schools. We understand that this will place some families in a difficult position with childcare once again, and truly are sorry for that; however, student and staff safety continues to remain ETUSD’s number one priority. We are very happy that our students have had the opportunity to receive in-person instruction over the past month and a half, as most children in Kern County have not had that opportunity this school year. We are just as excited to plan on returning to in-person instruction after the holidays. Lunches will begin being delivered once again to specific bus stops beginning Monday, December 7th.
Our goal is to reopen our schools for in-person instruction on our hybrid model starting Tuesday, January 19th. (Monday the 18th is Martin Luther King Day). We have decided to resume in-person instruction two weeks after the Christmas Break in order to give the necessary amount of time for spiked numbers from the holiday season to relax before bringing students back onto campus.
Again, we understand this places a strain on some families, and understand that some may not agree, but ask that you understand our reasoning and caring our students, staff and community.
We have included a flyer from the Mountain Communities Family Resource Center to ensure that all families are aware of all resources available to them during this very difficult time. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Also, if you are experiencing a very difficult hardship of some sort that we may be able to help with, please reach out to me as well. ETUSD is here to help all of our students and families in any way possible.
Sincerely,
Sara Haflich, El Tejon Unified Superintendent
District Office: 661-248-6247
This is part of the December 4, 2020 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.
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