SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – Santa Clara County school officials on Tuesday released a series of safety requirements and recommendations that would need to be met and followed for K-12 public and private schools to safely reopen for the 2020-21 academic school year during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Aside from face mask requirements and maintaining physical distancing, the 22-page guideline manual includes other points for elementary, middle, and high schools.

“We want all students and teachers to return to school as soon as possible and under the safest possible conditions,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County’s public health officer.

For elementary schools, requirements include keeping the same students, teachers, and staff together for the entire day.

For middle schools and high schools, teachers should maximize the space between desks, and all schools must arrange classrooms to minimize close contact.

Schools are also suggested to follow other guidelines, including:

  • Minimize usage of lockers
  • Serve meals in classrooms or outdoors instead of cafeterias
  • Use non-classrooms settings like outdoor spaces or gyms to help spread students out
  • Keep class sizes as small as possible
  • Holding recess in separate areas designated by class

Some recommendations for non-classroom settings include one-way walking areas and assigned bathrooms.

But even with these safety guidelines, one superintendent believes most of the learning will be done online this fall.

“The majority of the learning is going to be virtual, even in a gradual reopening of we might bring because that is the best way to teach that student population will be in a gradual mode and we need to be very mindful and monitor how the instances of how COVID-19 is evolving in our community,” said Dr. Hilaria Bauer, superintendent of the Alum Rock School District.

Dr. Bauer added that the situation continues to develop and changes are constant.

“What you are asking me today and the way I am going to respond to you today is going to be significantly different next week, or two weeks from now, because we keep seeing incidents of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County spiking.”

At last check, Santa Clara County had 4,370 confirmed coronavirus cases and 156 deaths.

Dr. Cody said that the opening of schools for in-person teaching will be dictated by each of the 32 school districts in the county.

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