Fairfield, Suisun students won't return to school until January
The move came after a survey sent to students and parents revealed most want to continue with distance learning until after the winter break.
(Stock image)
Students who attend school in the Fairfield-Suisun School District will continue attending classes through remote learning following a vote by the district's school board this week.
The vote comes after state officials gave Solano County a green-light to resume in-person instruction after data showed a decrease in coronavirus infections over the last several weeks.
The state's nod to county officials merely paved the way for schools to re-open — each school district is being allowed to decide for themselves how and when in-person instructions will resume.
In Fairfield and Suisun, that type of instruction won't happen until next year at the earliest.
"It is too early to return to school," Craig Wilson, a member of the school board, said according to the Daily Republic. "We are one of the largest school districts in the county. We don't want to lead in testing this infectious public health epidemic."
Schools transitioned to remote, distance learning shortly after the start of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, a health crisis that also saw the closure of businesses after state officials issued a widespread shelter-at-home order in March.
State officials have been allowing some businesses and other institutions to re-open and provide certain services with modified operations, including the implementation of social distancing measures and a face mask requirement for customers and other patrons. Those moves have been determined on a county-by-county basis based in large part on the number of current and new coronavirus infections over a specified amount of time.
Last month, Solano County was given the go-ahead to move from the state's restrictive activity tier into a less-restrictive one, which paved the way for schools to begin resuming in-person instruction if district officials felt it was safe to do so.
Earlier this month, district officials sent a survey to students and parents asking them for guidance on whether schools should continue with distance learning or open up for in-person instruction. Nearly 42 percent of students and 54 percent of parents said they preferred to continue with remote learning; around 30 percent of students and 20 percent of parents urged the county to move forward with in-person instruction.
Some students and parents reported issues connecting to software used for remote learning and experienced problems with district-issued Chromebooks that were prone to crashes and random restarts. Trustees relayed these concerns at their board meeting this week but said teachers and other school officials had become adept at handling software and hardware issues as they came up.
The school board voted to continue distance learning until at least January, at which time they will re-evaluate their position to determine if in-person instruction should resume.
This newsletter is an all-volunteer effort. If you would like to show your appreciation, consider making a donation in any amount or converting your email subscription into a paid one. Discuss this newsletter and other stories from across Solano County on our Facebook group here.
This newsletter is not affiliated with the County of Solano, its agencies or county officials.