Vine Hill Elementary School

Scotts Valley Community,

I first want to start off by congratulating our district team for implementing hybrid schedules for all grades, TK through 12, prior to any other school districts in the county! The pleasure and satisfaction of seeing the smiling and excited student faces returning to campus, even through masks, has been exhilarating.  This has felt like the first few weeks of school in so many ways!  We appreciate the cooperation of students and families working with our schools to keep students engaged and safe.

I would also like to clarify some incorrect information that was shared publicly regarding the reopening of Santa Cruz City Schools district and also Berkeley Unified. The School Board and I have received numerous emails claiming facts about the full reopening of other school districts and comparing SVUSD to those districts. Members of my team and I have spent hours following up on these statements. To summarize, Santa Cruz City Schools is opening up full in-person services for elementary schools only on April 19, and will not be opening up for full in-person services in their secondary schools this school year. Additionally, Berkeley Unified, based on a direct conversation I had with the superintendent, clarified that their district is currently open in elementary full-time. This is based on the fact that their class sizes initially were much smaller than ours, and with 80 percent wanting full-time in person, they were easily able to accommodate the 3-foot distancing requirements. Berkeley Unified also confirmed that they are currently still in hybrid in their secondary schools and will only be opening up afternoon support in mid-April for students, much like our middle school and high school did in the months of February and March. It was further clarified that they will not be opening up for the expansion of in-person services in their secondary schools, this is much different than what we have and intend to implement in Scotts Valley beginning in the month of April.

By now, you should’ve received a survey from your school site regarding your preference to return your child to full in-person instruction or to continue with remote instruction for the remainder of the year. Again, I want to thank and commend our team for working over the weekend and into this week to not only implement full hybrid schedules with students returning onto campuses, but also to create yet another survey to get out to our families prior to Spring Break.

We will be reviewing the survey results upon return from Spring Break and will be making that transition for elementary sites Monday, April 19. For the secondary schools, Scotts Valley Middle School and Scotts Valley High School, we will make the transition from hybrid instruction to full-time in person (or full-time remote) starting the week of April 26. If we have more families choose to return than our facilities or staff are equipped, we may need to investigate hiring additional support staff and purchasing additional equipment.  We intend for this to be our final transition for this school year.

While I know that we are all so very ready for Spring Break, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of safety, social distancing, and following the CDPH Travel Advisory which was updated on April 1, 2021.

We are not yet out of the woods so to speak, even though Santa Cruz County has entered the Orange Tier.  As I have stated previously, we want to be able to continue with our plans, and  allow for student activities to continue, especially for our seniors this spring.

Save the date:  We have shared with you the parent trainings that we have provided throughout the year.   On Wednesday, April 28, please know that we will be providing parent training, similar to the training that our Trustees and entire district staff have participated in, regarding Unconscious Bias training. Further information can be found on our website, linked here.

Enjoy this next week, 

Tanya Krause, Superintendent

Dear Scotts Valley Community,

As I’m sure you are aware, Santa Cruz County metrics continue to improve and assuming we continue in this direction, our County may move into the Orange tier in the last week of March.

Last night at the Board meeting, I presented information and was joined by Jennifer Buesing, the County Office of Education Director of Safety, and the School Liaison to Public Health.  We provided updated information regarding our state monitoring system, as well as the updated guidance recently announced by the California Department of Public Health.

Again, I want to applaud our district and staff for being the first public school district in this county to fully implement hybrid schedules during the month of March. By next week, all grade levels TK - 12 will have been invited back for hybrid instruction. We also reviewed the potential impact that we are concerned about regarding travel and gatherings over spring break. The outcome of spring break will significantly impact the next steps our districts will be able to take. Our hope is that the community adheres to the CDPH travel advisory and we will continue with the positive progress in moving into the Orange and even less restrictive tiers. As many of you know, once we have opened up hybrid instruction, regardless of the colored tier our county is in, we will be able to continue to remain open providing hybrid instruction.

Since CDPH just recently amended its guidance for social distancing in classrooms, we are reviewing and determining our classroom capacity with 3-foot distances between student desks. For those who have not read the updated guidance closely, this 3-foot change is only for classrooms and only between students. CDPH is still advising adults to keep 6-foot social distancing and also for teachers to keep 6 feet between themselves and their students. Additionally, this is also the guidance for eating areas, even if outdoors. While our schools are focusing on and completing the implementation of the hybrid schedules this week and next with 4th, 5th, 6th, and 12th graders returning this week, to be joined by 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grades next week, we are also discussing shifting to a less restrictive classroom capacity with the new 3-foot guidance. We are analyzing facility use and space. After spring break, we will survey parents to assess parents' comfort level and confirmation for your students to receive in-person instruction with 3-foot distancing instead of six. We need to receive those survey results and then determine our staffing and facility needs accordingly. Please bear with us, we were just rolling out hybrid schedules, only to have a quick shift by CDC and CDPH regarding the distancing for classrooms only. We intend to bring back more students into the classrooms this year as we are able, and we will be in communication with our parent community about making this transition.

Additionally, we are expecting to receive additional guidance from CDPH regarding large gatherings and specifically, senior activities and graduation. It is our intent to be able to provide our seniors as many opportunities as we are able for the last portion of their senior year. Again, those gatherings will be determined in part by Public Health and the case rate for Santa Cruz County.

We have been reaching out to other districts outside of Santa Cruz and gathering ideas and options to transition into a less restrictive socially distanced classroom environment. We are also working collaboratively with our teacher's union in making these changes.

I am pleased and excited for all of the students that wanted to and were able to return to campuses for hybrid instruction through the month of March, and we will continue to make adjustments upon return from spring break. 

Here is the link to the County Superintendents letter regarding the above information.

Thank you,
Tanya Krause, Superintendent

To the Scotts Valley Community,
 

We are fielding a lot of questions and clarifications regarding hybrid re-opening schedules and the new CDC guidance on social distancing for schools.
In the last 48 hours, both the middle school and the high school held Town Hall meetings to review their hybrid schedules, implementation of these schedules, and required safety protocols.

The letter from the County Superintendents today provides information and clarification on timelines and parameters for schools. Additionally, we are trying to address and clarify the guidelines and requirements for high school sports. Please keep in mind that public schools in California need to adhere to the California Department of Public Health Guidance which is also linked in the document.

I completely acknowledge and understand the confusion as guidance from one entity differs from another, as well as ongoing changes and updates throughout the year from both CDPH and CDC, the Center for Disease Control.

We will continue to work with our teachers and staff in preparation for CDPH potentially changing their guidance to align with the CDC.

Also of importance is the letter from the County Superintendents (pg. 5) which emphasizes that the Santa Cruz County school community stands in solidarity against violence, intimidation, and racism towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and all communities of color.  We will not condone racial hate, discrimination, or violence in our schools or in our community.   

Thank you for your partnership as we continue to progress forward.

Sincerely,

Tanya Krause, Superintendent