Los Angeles County Public Health officials said the county had reached the threshold needed for high school and junior high school students to return to campus, if current conditions remain for the next two weeks.
The county announced Tuesday its adjusted COVID-19 case rate had dropped to 5.2 per 100,000, meaning that schools could reopen for in-person instruction in two weeks should the adjusted case rate remain below 7 per 100,000 until March 23.
In a statement distributed to staff on Tuesday morning, Hart district Superintendent Mike Kuhlman informed staff that the adjusted case rate threshold being met means that the district is close to welcoming back more students to campuses.
“While this is all good news, the lack of clarity presents challenges to those of us working to organize a safe and successful start to blended-learning,” Kuhlman wrote in the letter. “Therefore, to ensure an orderly transition, I am writing to confirm that (assuming there are no additional curveballs) March 29 will be the date that we launch our blended-learning model.”
Kuhlman said parents, over the course of the next few days, will be asked to confirm whether they will be taking the district’s blended learning option or online-only option.
“In the next three weeks we will share invitations for exclusive campus tours for 7th and 9th grade students,” said Kuhlman. “Hart District teachers will familiarize themselves with redesigned classrooms and will trouble-shoot new technology. We are finalizing the return of our School Resource Officers.”
In addition to the changes coming to the district as a result of the decreasing adjusted case rate number, high school football teams no longer will be required by California Department of Public Health guidelines to take a weekly COVID-19 test.
In a statement issued Tuesday, California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section, the organization that runs the high school athletics in the state, said Los Angeles County, along with San Luis Obispo, Orange and San Bernardino counties, would no longer be mandated to take the weekly rapid tests.
