Selma Unified School District submits waiver to bring some students on campus

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Selma Unified is the next district working to bring students safely back to the classroom.

"Very small group, very self-contained, those cohorts have to work consistently in a very tight group," says Superintendent Dr. Tanya Fisher. "Those cohorts can't intermingle."

If the board approves the plan Tuesday night - staff members hope to welcome back a small group of special day students next Monday.

"We've offered parents the opportunity to have their students come in for extra supervision and instructional support," Fisher said. "The classroom teacher will continue the instruction but we'll bring students in that may need more side by side support."

Administrators say students and staff will follow social distancing guidelines.

Masks will be mandatory for third grade and up and strongly recommended for TK-second. From there, they hope the next step will be bringing back other students who need extra support.

"Foster youth students, our homeless students that may be struggling with connectivity issues," Fisher said. "We're planning to bring those students back in small group cohorts, but that decision is subject to what happens with our elementary waiver."

The district is now waiting for that waiver to be approved by the state.

It would allow larger groups of students on campus for in-person instruction, but the superintendent says it doesn't mean the district would necessarily take that step soon.

"We haven't made that decision because we want to see what our county numbers look like," Fisher said. "It just may mean that the numbers are too volatile right now. There may be some parents that say I'm just not ready for my students to return regardless.

A virtual parent forum was held last week to get families' input and a parent survey also goes out on Tuesday.