Clovis Unified aims to open campuses to all students for in-person learning by January

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Clovis Unified now has 'target dates' to return students to in-person learning.

The district's school board met Wednesday night as district administrators presented their plans based on parent and staff surveys.

They decided all students grades K-12 who choose in-person, hybrid instruction, will be on campus for the start of the second semester.

For elementary-aged students, the second semester begins on January 19 and for secondary students grade 7-12, the semester will begin January 5.

All schools would utilize masks and social distancing.

Families with secondary students - in junior high and high school - will receive another survey this Friday to declare which option they would like: either to remain on distance learning or return to campus.

The district has already received a waiver from the state.

Putting this plan in place hasn't been easy.

"We have about 23,000 students in elementary programs, and each of those has a teacher. What we're seeing is that in each school, we have a wide variety of needs," said Clovis Unified spokesperson Kelly Avants.

In the hybrid model, students would go to school either in the morning or afternoon, then return home and continue learning through Zoom.

"While it's not ideal, what it does provide is that daily communication and interaction with a teacher," said Avants.

Classrooms will be cleaned between the student "shifts". Until those target dates in January, some schools will begin "phasing-in" students back to in-person learning, but each principal will decide how and if their campuses will bring students back based on the surveys sent out to parents and teachers.

Over the past two weeks, the staff sent out a survey to parents for input on the district's ideas.

"We have communities where families and staff say, 'Let's just stay online through the whole school year', and others say, 'Let's return as quickly as possible'," said Avants.