It’s hard to believe we have completed seven weeks of school now! I am so proud of the herculean effort that everyone has made.  I visited a classroom at Frank Zeek Elementary today, where students were discussing the question:  “How do our actions influence our lives?”  I thought about this question in relation to our current situation. I have received many questions about how and when we can go back to in-person learning, so I want to explain a little bit about the process and circumstances that will allow us to transition back to school. 

In-Person Learning: Our goal is to transition to an in-person model as soon as the health conditions allow it. Our decisions are guided by the California Department of Public Health and our local Public Health Officer. In August of 2020, Governor Newsom unveiled the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which assigns counties to four different tiers based on disease transmission and positive test rates. Mendocino county is assigned to the most restrictive Widespread (purple) tier.

School districts within counties assigned to the purple tier cannot resume any in-person learning until they move into the Substantial (red) tier for two consecutive weeks. Purple tier counties move to the red tier when there are 7 or fewer average new daily cases per 100,000 residents, and average positive test rates are 8% or less for two consecutive weeks. Schools may reopen for in-person instruction once their county has been in the red tier for at least two weeks. 

For our Ukiah Unified schools, this means we are a minimum of one month away from any in-person model. Mendocino county will need to have two weeks below the threshold numbers to move to the red tier, and then another two weeks of maintaining those numbers before we are allowed to start an in-person learning model. 

Please continue to do your part in reducing the cases of COVID in our county by supporting the three Ws:  wearing a mask, watching your physical distance from others, and washing your hands.  Our actions make a difference in getting us to a different tier. 

Technology Support: Please let us know if you need technical support of any kind. To provide you with service during these challenging times, we have set up a Google Meet where technical support staff will assist you virtually.  Go to meet.google.com/nvp-dpxi-uct anytime from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. You can also call our Technology Support Hotline at 707-472-5074 from noon to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Thank you for supporting your student and our staff!  Please reach out to your school for assistance, or call our District Hotline at 707-472-5003.