ALVORD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

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Dear Members of the AUSD Community,

Tomorrow, Monday, January 18, is a federal holiday in honor of Reverend Martin Luther King’s birthday. While there is no school, Dr. King's legacy teaches us about tolerance, civil discourse, and our shared responsibility to the cause of justice, undoubtedly at a time when it couldn't be needed more. The events of this past year remind us all that the United States still has a way to go to fulfill its promise of social justice and equity for all. The pandemic surge in Riverside will prevent us from physically coming together to serve in Dr. King's honor this year, but it will not prevent us from coming together to do what's right in the name of social justice, love and equality.

Students return to remote learning on January 19. Given the current COVID conditions, our schools and offices will continue to operate with a minimum of staff and be closed to the public except by appointment and for daily food/meal pick-up. As I discussed in my message last week, reopening school plans are temporarily delayed while we all do our best to stay safe and ride out the current pandemic surge. Currently, the case rate is 127.5 per 100,000 (107.2 last week), the positivity rate is 25.7% (23.1% last week), and ICU bed availability is zero. See the latest data below in the COVID update section under News.

This past Wednesday, the next phase of vaccination distribution opened and included all school district employees, but by appointment only, and managed by the Riverside County Public Health Department. Within hours of opening the vaccination sites, all appointments were filled. The county hopes to open additional sites as soon as possible to serve Riverside County's 2.4 million residents, of which 343,000 are aged 65 or older. Demand for COVID-19 vaccine is high and doses extremely limited. Riverside County has only received 114,000 doses of the vaccines as of January 16. Read a press release with more details here.

Stay current by visiting the county's vaccination web site here. School reopening plans are not dependent on vaccinations, but could help accelerate the process. The vaccines are currently not approved for young children. The Moderna vaccine is only for adults 18 years of age or older and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is for anyone 16 years of age or older.

Below is a very informative Riverside County Public Health video on the vaccines and the vaccination plan featuring Chief of Family Medicine for the Riverside University Health System, Dr. Leung. The video starts about 20 seconds after pressing play.

This past Thursday, the state launched a Safe Schools For All Hub for educators and parents.

The web site contains guidance and resources on Governor Newsom’s school reopening plan. Also this past Thursday, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released a new framework for reopening schools, beginning with elementary school children, if local conditions are met and the county case rate is below 25 cases per 100,000 (adjusted rate) for 5 consecutive days. This coming Thursday, January 21, the Board of Education will discuss the Governor's new plan, the new CDPH guidance, and a tentative timeline for reopening. Board meetings begin at 6 pm and are conducted virtually. Learn more about participating in our board meetings here.

Lots of information to digest. The bottom line is we will continue to serve our students remotely while we monitor the current conditions and implement the new CDPH reopening guidelines. Below are some important upcoming dates. When the time comes that we meet the state's case rate requirement and are eligible to reopen schools, these dates will be taken into consideration in the interest of transitioning with the least amount of disruption for our students, staff, and families.

President's Week is 2/08/21 to 2/15/21. Schools closed.

First 2nd Semester Progress Reporting ends 2/19/21

Second 2nd Semester Progress Reporting Period ends 4/9/21

As I mentioned in my message last week, we are currently planning for summer school and for the 2021-22 school year. The summer program will be considerably more comprehensive than in past years. It will be driven by diagnostic assessments and be highly specialized to address specific learning needs, especially reading, mathematics, and English language acquisition. We will also offer more credit recovery options for high school students. Look for a summer school survey sent by your principal. Please complete it so we can effectively plan ahead.

On behalf of the Board of Education and our entire organization, our hearts go out to families who have experienced food or home insecurity, physical or mental health challenges, or have lost loved ones during these difficult times. If you missed our recent parent engagement workshop on managing stress and anxiety to keep your family healthy, you can view it on our YouTube channel here. This Wednesday's workshop is titled, Online Parent Tools to Support Student Learning. See details in the News section below.

Our hearts also go out to our children who are forced to experience one of the most difficult and tumultuous periods in our nation's history. More than ever, they need the adults in their lives to be there for them. But the light at the end of the tunnel is emerging. Stay strong. Together we will get this pandemic behind us.

Stay healthy. Stay positive.

In partnership,

Allan Mucerino

The Riverside County Department of Education (RCOE) also provides many services for school-age children and their families. Click on the image below or here to visit the RCOE Parent Portal. To browse by topic, click on the links below for detailed information.

Child Care for Essential Workers

Child Care Assistance and Resources

Child Care Finder

Head Start

Migrant Head Start

State Preschool

Teen Parent Program

Infant/Toddler Special Education Programs

Email: 2Superintendent@alvordschools.org
Website: https://www.alvordschools.org
Location: 9 Kpc Parkway, Corona, CA 92879, USA
Phone: 951) 509-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/alvordunified
Twitter: @AlvordUnified