Hello Rim Employees and Families,
On Friday, August 28, the California
Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a new 4-tier tracking system identified as the “Blueprint for a Safer Economy”, which is designed to replace the County Monitoring list. San Bernardino County is currently in Tier 1 or purple, https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy/
Under the new tracking system, counties are identified as falling into one of four tiers, with Tier 1 being the strictest. Schools in Tier 1 are barred from reopening for in-person instruction unless they have an approved elementary waiver. Decisions regarding movement from one Tier to another will be made weekly starting on September 8, 2020.
Once counties have been in a particular Tier for three weeks and fall below the levels that apply to the next Tier for 14 days, they move to the next lowest Tier.
The new guidance also states that schools may reopen for in-person instruction only if their county has been in Tier 2 status for at least two weeks.
The new guidance does not change the existing elementary school waiver process, though such waivers are subject to local county health orders. Nor does the guidance change the rules that apply after a school has opened for in-person instruction.
The new guidance also does not affect the separate CDPA guidance issued on August 25, 2020, which authorized limited in-person instruction. These guidelines state that small cohorts of children can be served with procedures in place and plans submitted to our local department of public health.
At this time, Rim of the World Unified School will be collecting data from our parents and employees via an additional survey about reopening and distance learning.
The ROWUSD COVID Task Force will be meeting several times in September to look at the latest survey data, new guidelines, and the waiver process. The Task Force consists of teachers, classified employees, parents, administrators, a nurse, an elementary and secondary principal, and a high school student. The Task Force will submit recommendations to our school board and union leaders.