St. Vrain Valley students will return to in-person learning after spring break.
SVVSD on Tuesday announced to parents and teachers that students will return to in-person school four days a week beginning March 29, the first school day after spring break, which is March 22-26.
Elementary students began the spring semester with a four-day in-person schedule, while middle and high school students started in a hybrid model, returning to schools two days a week.
All schools observe remote learning on Fridays.
Students can still choose to learn remotely for the remainder of the school year if that is what they are comfortable with, SVVSD superintendent Don Haddad said in a Tuesday phone call.
To allow teachers the opportunity to plan for both in-person and remote learning, Fridays will remain remote learning days for all students. However, school libraries will be open “days for students who choose to come to the school and work independently,” the letter to parents states.
School principals will provide parents with additional information on library hours, according to the letter.
Additionally, teachers have the option to meet with students individually on Fridays for extra support and help, Haddad said.
Educators on Feb. 8 became eligible for COVID vaccines under the state’s priority plan. As of Feb. 11, 1,446 SVVSD employees had yet to receive an invitation to get a vaccine. As of Tuesday, though, approximately 94% of teachers and staff had received or had the opportunity to schedule a vaccination appointment, according to the district, which anticipates that most teachers and staff prior to spring break will receive their second dose in the two-shot protocol.
The district in mid-March plans to send additional information to parents about the post-spring break return.
A decline in positivity rates and case numbers gives the district high hopes it will be able to follow through on the plan, according to the letter.
Boulder County on Tuesday reported a seven-day positivity rate of 3.4% and 110.3 new cases per 100,000 people. Weld County as of Tuesday reported a 5.32% two-week positivity rate and a two-week cumulative incidence rate of 248.1 per 100,000 people.
SVVSD in its letter to parents said it will “continue to closely monitor data trends and other important information related to in-person learning and will update you if anything requires us to alter our return to four-day in-person learning after spring break.”
St. Vrain Educational Advocates, a group founded by parent Dan Maloit to advocate for the return to in-person learning, cheered the district's announcement. Maloit launched the organization in August after watching his daughter struggle with remote learning.
“The stories our parents have shared about the struggles our SVVSD middle and high school students have faced this year is of concern and heartbreaking," Maloit stated in a news release emailed early Wednesday morning. "We look forward to our students returning to school after the spring break holiday and will continue to advocate full-time five-day-a-week in-person learning for K-12."
SVVSD plans to return to a five-day in-person schedule in the fall.
For the remainder of this school year, SVVSD will continue to require mask wearing, provide hand washing and sanitizing stations, ensure appropriate social distancing and will adhere to heightened and increased cleaning and sanitizing protocols, according to the letter. It also will continue to ask everyone to conduct daily temperature and symptom checks to ensure student safety.
