By Ananya Kulkarni and Evan Lu, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster
TESD opened its doors to an expanded in-person instructional model on March 15, after all students in the district were given the option to either remain at home or return for four days of the week. The option to return was administered through a PowerSchool commitment form, with approximately 56% of students initially signing up to return to school. According to Principal Dr. Amy Meisinger during the Mar. 15 morning announcements, 1,250 students returned to the building on the first day of in-person learning.
This change came as a result of the new CCHD guidance, which states that “schools are expected to maximize their space such that they achieve as close to six feet of physical distancing as possible without ever going below three feet.”
According to the principal’s letter to families announcing this change, the school will “strive for six feet of distance to the greatest extent possible” while acknowledging that “this will not always be feasible and will result in students sitting between six and three feet from classmates throughout the day (including lunch).”
While just over half of students have returned, the school will continue to make plans to allow more students to transition back to in-person learning as time goes on so long as the school continually meets the criteria for a minimized number of cases three weeks in a row.
“Districts could move more students back into in-person instruction. We began planning for that transition several weeks ago,” Pandemic Coordinator Chris Groppe said.
