‘Red Tier’ status would mean more in-person instruction for students
–This week, San Luis Obispo County Health Director Dr. Penny Borenstein announced that SLO County could be soon moving from the Purple Tier into the less restrictive Red Tier of COVID-19 state guidelines. The Red Tier would allow the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District to open up secondary schools for hybrid, in-person instruction, the district says in a news release.
Of the three metrics used to determine tier status, San Luis Obispo County has two that meet Orange Tier qualification, and one that meets Purple Tier. Following the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy, this means that, if the county maintains or improves current numbers for a two-week period of time, the county will be allowed to transition back to the Red Tier. San Luis Obispo County has been in that transition for one week, which means that, if there are no negative changes to local metics, the county could move back into the Red Tier soon, Superintendent Curt Dubost said Thursday in a news release.
The district has an agreement with Paso Robles Public Educators that outlines the return of students to campuses through the hybrid model. It is the district’s and union’s intent to fully open secondary schools for instruction in the hybrid model within 14 days of transition to the Red Tier.
As numbers continue to improve in the county, the district says they want to remind everyone that the next three weeks are going to be critical for the return of in-person instruction at secondary schools. They encourage everyone to continue following the guidance including social distancing and wearing masks to help keep numbers at the current rate of decline. In addition to yesterday’s positive outlook for the hybrid return to our secondary campuses, they say that they are equally hopeful that our collective actions will continue to decrease the daily case count, moving the third metric into Orange Tier status as well. If this occurs soon, it will open up more opportunities for our students including Orange Tier sports such as Bearcat football, and possibly student traditions like prom.
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