Sept 29, 2020
Dear AVS Parents & Guardians,
This week we were once again reminded of the devastation and heartbreak Sonoma County wildfires can have on all of us. Our thoughts go out to all of those who were impacted by the most recent and ongoing fires in the Santa Rosa area and throughout the county. As we just start to enter this year’s fire season it is a good reminder for all of us to have a plan in place should we need to implement it in an emergency situation. One such part of our plan is around PSPS events and how to help manage student learning during a PG&E power shut off. We typically receive a 48-hour advanced notification from PG&E if they plan to shut off power to our school and community. This notification window will allow our teachers time to organize communication and materials for your child to complete during a PSPS event. Although not ideal, this model keeps our students learning during a PSPS event. Hopefully we can avoid PSPS events this Fall while in Distance Learning, but in the event one is scheduled for our area, I wanted to keep you in the loop as to the direction we will be going.
Four Tier State Covid-10 Monitoring Update
As I indicated in an early report, the state has moved into a Four Tier color monitoring tracking system for Covid-19 (see chart below). The monitoring system tracks two areas, daily new case counts and positivity rates. Both targets have to be met in order to advance to a less restrictive tier. Since the start of the monitoring system, our county continues to remain in the purple tier (widespread), which is the most restrictive. According to the state, schools are unable to reopen for in-person instruction until the county reaches the red tier (substantial). To enter into the red tier, new county case counts must be below 7 new cases per 100K residents per day over a 7-day timespan. With approximately 500K residents in Sonoma county, the formula is (7 case count) x 5 = 35 new cases per day. Take the 35 daily new case count multiple by (7) days per week and this results in anything greater than 245 new case counts per week keeps Sonoma County in the purple tier. Should the county end the count below a 245 new weekly case count, we start to be considered for the red tier. The county must keep below those numbers for two weeks before we’re officially listed in the red tier. At that point, schools still have to wait an additional two weeks after the county is listed in the red tier before they have the potential for reopening. At that point, schools will still need to be able to meet state guidelines to regularly test all staff and conduct contact tracing for any COVID-19 cases on campus.
In response, our AV20 committee recently met and is preparing a more detailed outline on timelines and conditions for reopening to in-person instruction at AVS. Over the next couple of weeks, we will continue to gather case count data, monitor our tier status, and share our outline and information with all of you.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Next week we have our virtual Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences taking place. As we continue our partnership, especially during our Distance Learning instruction, we want to connect with you to share information and provide feedback on how your child is doing throughout the first 6 weeks of our school year. We look forward to hearing from you on how
things are going for your child and his/her learning around this most unprecedented school year.
We continue to miss all of our students and families, and continue to appreciate all the work of our staff and parents for supporting our children the best way we can. We are proud of our students and know they are resilient, smart, and strong!
Keep celebrating the small wins and please continue to stay safe as we enter into our Fall season ahead,
Sincerely,
Mr. Reno
