PIMA — The Pima Unified School District governing board gave the green light Monday to a plan that will get more children back in school despite exposure to COVID-19.
The board voted 4-1 to enact a mitigation plan that allows quarantined students back in the classroom as long as the children do not show symptoms of coronavirus.
“We want to listen to what the community has to say, and the majority of the community wants our children in school. That’s what we want, but at the same time we’ve got to make it safe for all involved. We feel we came up with a good solution to do that,” said School Board President Troy Thygerson.
The plan includes three requirements:
● The students must submit to health screening each day during the quarantine period
● The students must wear masks during the quarantine period
● The students must socially distance whenever possible
Pima has had a number of students out of school due to quarantine after close contact with a person who has tested positive for coronavirus.
Parents speaking Monday asked for healthy children to return to the classroom, and frustration that not all teachers were making lesson plans and assignments available online to quarantined students, putting those students behind when they do return to school.
Superintendent Sean Rickert said this compromise plan was devised after multiple discussions with school principals and teachers, and after last week’s school board meeting where parents expressed frustration over their healthy children being unable to be in the classroom.
He said that parents who do not wish their children to return to school during the quarantine will be allowed to keep them home, including other children in the house who have not been designated for quarantine. He also said he will talk with teachers and the issues with distance learning will be corrected immediately.
The lone vote against was Board Member Melissa Batty, who expressed concern over whether proper mask wearing and social distancing would be enforced, whether distance learning would be fully functional for students who do remain home under quarantine, and that children exposed to the virus could bring it home to parents who are more likely to suffer serious complications.
