Dear AUSD School Community,
As pandemic-related events are unfolding rapidly, I will be sending weekly Community Updates to keep you informed of AUSD’s progress towards resuming in-person learning. Topics this week are:
- Alameda County announced COVID-19 vaccinations for education workers may begin next week
- Update on hubs
- Reopening Plans for AMS and AHS will be presented at Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 9th
- Spring High School Athletics
Plans for vaccinations for education workers announced:
Alameda County announced COVID-19 vaccinations for education workers, who are part of the Phase 1B vaccination tier, may begin on Feb. 8. County Superintendent of Schools L.K. Monroe stated, “This is an important step forward for our school communities. The Alameda County Office of Education is committed to supporting public health efforts to swiftly vaccinate education staff - teachers, classified staff and administrators - against COVID-19.”
Although this is welcome news, the effort to vaccinate all individuals in Phase 1b will likely take months because of the short supply of vaccines. California is organizing its vaccination efforts by implementing a single statewide standard for progression through designated tiers of the population. The state will continue vaccinating those 65 and over, health care workers, and will now begin to prioritize emergency services, food and agriculture workers, and teachers and school staff. Alameda County Public Health Department is in charge of determining the locations of vaccination sites, and I hope to be able to convey more news about the plan to vaccinate AUSD staff as early as next week.
Sources:
- Statement from Alameda County Superintendent of Schools L. K. Monroe on Alameda County Commencing Vaccinations of Education Staff in Phase 1B
- https://www.acoe.org/vaccines
- https://covid-19.acgov.org/covid19-assets/docs/press/press-release-2021.02.03.pdf
Update on Hubs:
District staff are working hard to provide in-person services in the form of hubs at the school sites to open later this month. The elementary internet hubs for some of our most vulnerable students will open next week, Thursday, February 11. For all other hubs, more details will be forthcoming. See the January 26th presentation to the Board of Education on the hub plan.
Reopening Plans for AMS and AHS:
Secondary school reopening plans will be presented at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, February 9th. See Agenda to examine the proposed plans.
Athletics:
Even before the pandemic started, it has always been clear to us who work in schools how much athletic programs contribute to the well-being of our students. These programs not only contribute to the physical health of students, but also to their social and emotional development. Since the beginning of the year, we have been committed to running these programs for our students as much as is safe. While we had been running conditioning programs in the Fall - the only form of practice allowed under league rules - all athletic activities were paused when the more restrictive shelter-in-place orders were put into place. In the coming weeks, we will be allowing teams to begin conditioning activities again under specific guidelines.
The California Interscholastic Federation, who oversees all high school athletics in the state, has released guidelines of which sports they feel may be safe to run at different tiers in California's COVID tracking system. We will be working with our league to start planning a return of full practice and competition. This is not something that the District or Albany High School does by itself, but requires coordination across many schools, with the health and safety of our student athletes as the highest priority.
Stay hopeful and encouraged,
Frank Wells, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Albany Unified School District