KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The longer this pandemic goes on, the harder it is.

It feels like we were asked to run a 100-meter dash; then halfway through the race, it got changed to a marathon, and now we’re all running out of energy.

I get it. I’m tired, too.

The thing is, we’ve got to keep going – all of us together. I know it takes extra effort to do things that used to feel easy, but we can’t give up.

We’ve got to do what we can to stay safe and keep our loved ones safe, and that means wearing masks, staying socially distanced, and if you have coronavirus symptoms, staying away from other people as much as possible.

When it comes to bringing students back into the classroom, we have to choose between the lesser of two evils: 1. Putting children at risk at school (potentially exposing them to a deadly virus) or 2. Putting children at risk at home (potentially exposing them to mental health problems resulting from a lack of socialization).

I’m also thinking about the community at large. Bringing students back into the classroom will almost certainly increase the number of COVID cases. Although children who get the virus may not get seriously ill, those they come in contact with may not be able to fight off the disease. We have a lot of students in Kelseyville who live in close quarters with family members older than 55 and some who are medically fragile.

On the other hand, the impacts of long-term distance learning on our students and the limitations it places on their families is only getting worse. Even the best distance learning isn’t as good as in-person instruction.

Friends of mine mentioned that their local mechanic is trying to fix cars for a living while his second grader sits against a wall in his shop with a Chromebook on his lap trying to download his assignment.

People are making sacrifices all over our community – and not all parents have the luxury of bringing their children to work with them. Some parents are at home with young children, and if they can’t work from home, that causes financial and emotional strain.

Because this pandemic is affecting people differently, Kelseyville Unified is going to let parents make the decision about whether their child should return to school. We’ll start calling parents in November to see whether they want to continue with distance learning or to have their child back on campus part-time, and we’ll structure our classes accordingly.

When students do come back to in-person learning, our schools will maintain strict safety measures that include COVID health screenings, face coverings, and physical barriers like plexiglass desk separators. If students do not adhere to these safety measures, they’ll be sent home and moved to full distance learning.

Eventually, when there’s a vaccine and the spread of the virus is minimal, we’ll return to normal (in-person instruction every day without COVID-19 safety measures). But until then, we have to keep people as safe as possible.

To determine the spread of COVID, the state has created a color-coded tracker with four tiers: purple, red, orange and yellow. A county can only move from one tier to another after three weeks.

Tier 1 is purple. It is the most dangerous because COVID-19 is considered widespread. This means there’s been an average of more than seven new cases per 100,000 people per day for the last seven days and/or an average positivity rate for COVID-19 testing of more than 8 percent for the last seven days. Without a special waiver, we cannot bring students into the classroom when we’re in the purple tier.

Tier 2 is red, and the spread of COVID-19 is considered substantial. This means we’ve had an average of between four and seven new cases per 100,000 people per day for the last seven days and/or an average positivity rate for COVID-19 testing of 5-8 percent for the last seven days. With safety measures, we can bring small groups (cohorts) of students on campus in line with county and state guidelines (no more than 16 in a classroom at a time).

Tier 3 is orange, and the spread of COVID-19 is considered moderate. This means we’ve had an average of between one and four new cases per 100,000 people per day for the last seven days and/or an average positivity rate for COVID-19 testing of 2-5 percent for the last seven days. With safety measures that might be slightly less restrictive, we can bring students back in cohorts.

Tier 4 is yellow, and the spread of COVID-19 is considered minimal. This means we’ve had an average of fewer than one new case per 100,000 people per day for the last seven days and/or an average positivity rate for COVID-19 testing of less than 2 percent for the last seven days. This is when we can return to normal.

As of late October, Lake County was in the red tier with numbers that were sending us toward the purple tier. We probably won’t hit orange until early next year, which means we’ll be in either distance learning or a combination of in-person and distance learning (also called the hybrid model) for some time.

For now, we remain in full distance learning. I understand it isn’t as good as in-person learning, but it’s better than having people we love get really sick or die. In case you don’t know, it’s pretty impressive the way teachers and students have adjusted.

Of course, some people are struggling more than others, but a lot of teachers and students are doing amazing work virtually.

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Parents, please keep asking your school for what you need, and we’ll do everything we can to provide it. Of course, we have some limitations, but we also have a lot of resources to help.

At Kelseyville Unified, we continue to provide free meals for all Kelseyville students, as well as access to technology that includes hotspots, wifi via school parking lots, and Chromebooks, plus school-sponsored technical support via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For more information, visit our website at www.kvusd.org.

Dave McQueen is the superintendent of Kelseyville Unified School District.

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Written by: Dave McQueen

Published: 29 October 2020