Purple tier delays reopening timelines for some school districts

Some San Diego County school districts are slowing down reopening plans because the county has fallen into the worst tier of the state’s COVID-19 monitoring system.

Some districts, including Poway Unified and Santee Elementary, had already reopened to some degree for part-time, in-person instruction, but they are voluntarily delaying bringing back more of their students or starting full-time instruction due to the purple tier.

San Diego County fell to the purple tier Nov. 10, which meant that restaurants, houses of worship, movie theaters and other organizations were to stop or significantly reduce indoor operations. The county fell into the designation because it averaged more than 7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.

Schools that had opened for in-person instruction before San Diego fell into the purple tier did not have to scale back or change anything about their reopening. But some districts did out of caution, as COVID-19 rates in San Diego County are at some of the highest levels since the pandemic began.

Poway, which has been open for elementary students since October, has delayed reopening its middle and high schools until Jan. 19. Poway enrolled roughly 36,600 students last school year.

“Despite our best efforts, the worsening public health conditions forced the Board to revise our middle and high school reopening plans for a slower, more measured approach,” the district recently wrote to families.

Santee has been open for part-time, hybrid instruction since September. Its school board recently voted to delay offering full-time instruction from Nov. 30 to Jan. 11, after board members raised concerns about starting full-time, in-person instruction when COVID-19 rates are high. Santee enrolled roughly 6,800 students last school year.

Schools that had not reopened while San Diego County was in the less restrictive tier must remain closed now until the county gets out and stays out of the purple tier, which could happen as soon as by Dec. 16.

San Diego Unified is tentatively planning to reopen for in-person instruction for elementary students on Jan. 4 and for secondary students on Jan. 25. That may be delayed if the county doesn’t exit and stay out of the purple tier by then.