The Alpine Union School District Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 8 ran over three hours— twice as long as usual.
The board thanked longtime employees headed for retirement and laid out plans for students to return to campus learning for the first time since schools were closed in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but not before Superintendent Richard Newman explained the use of Joan MacQueen Middle School as an evacuation point during the Valley Fire, even after the American Red Cross temporarily shut down the site.
“This has been a trying week for the community with the fires. I want to share how proud I am of our district, our community and their response… I also want to spend a moment to set the record straight on what occurred and let the community know I could not be more disappointed with the Red Cross,” Newman said.
He went on to sum up a series of miscommunications between the district and the Red Cross that led to early closure of the evacuation site, as well as behavior he says was “disrespectful and deserving of the most stinging rebuke” toward evacuees and community volunteers including Alpine Kiwanis who showed up with donations and an offer to help.
Newman said the agency lied to him about their reasons for closing the site on Saturday, including claiming they were at capacity when they were not.
“With 100 degree heat the Red Cross asked people to sleep in their cars… I was livid. These are people who were running for their lives,” Newman said.
He made the decision to reopen the gymnasium to anyone evacuating.
“Even though we, the district kept the gym open over the weekend, the Red Cross still turned away donations from the community. They told Kiwanis they could not serve food or even donate flats of water; I overrode them and said they could serve,” Newman said.
He ended his admonishment by saying “When there is a crisis, Alpine rises up and I’m glad we rose up when the Red Cross let us down,” then said the evacuation point is officially closed at this point, in time for schools to reopen.
As of press time Wednesday, The American Red Cross was unable to comment regarding Newman’s remarks.
Newman prefaced plans for reopening by saying the district has purchase digital screen recording application Screencastify for all the teachers, as well as 700 new Chromebook laptop computers. He also said they added 1,100 new digital library books and have about 1,000 more on their way to being added.
“Our goal has always been face-to-face learning… Face coverings are perhaps one of the most controversial issues. I stand by the perspective that from a practical perspective it is hard to wear a mask all the time. However our goal has been to keep schools open and so, one of the pieces I’d like to bring to the board is… I’m recommending everyone wears a mask at all times,” Newman said.
After discussion, the board agreed masks would be a campus requirement but could be worn in two-hour increments with opportunities for a distanced break.
Chief Business Officer William Pickering said a bipolar ionization machine was purchased to improve air quality as well as sanitization products that will be used by custodians at all campuses on a weekly basis.
Individual site plans were released, beginning with Joan MacQueen Middle School, the only middle school in the district.
Middle School Principal Casey Currigan began by pointing out the unique challenges of keeping middle schoolers distanced as students typically rotate between classrooms multiple times throughout the day.
Administration will begin the Sept. 21 return with a staggered dropoff of half the student population on campus either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday while the other half works from home; they will all work from home on Wednesdays.
When all students do finally return to campus with their full cohort, teachers will rotate between classrooms while students remain in place.
Eventually, Currigan said, that will change to students rotating between classrooms as they are used to doing.
Middle school Vice Principal Rebecca Darcey said there are four assigned eating areas as well as assigned bathrooms, but every week the cohorts get to switch where they snack and lunch in an effort to keep them engaged.
Plans were also released for district elementary schools, all with similar plans for staggered dropoff and pickup times, although each school accounted for differences based on their layout and student population in their individualized plans.
For example, Boulder Oaks Elementary School Principal Jenna Weinert described a bulletin board-colored magnet system for bathroom breaks that even kindergartners who cannot yet read will visually recognize.
Shadow Hills Elementary School immersion classes will be conducted one week in English and the following week in Spanish.
Recess equipment will be kept in different bags for each cohort, sanitized after use and rotated to keep things interesting for students.
School Board President Travis Lyon summed up the situation at all the schools: frustrating.
“Getting our kids back is necessary and I think everyone has an understanding that nothing is perfect right now,” Lyon said.
