Orcutt Union School District prepares for potential school reopening

ORCUTT, Calif. - The Orcutt Union School District is working on a plan to reopen schools in anticipation of Santa Barbara County moving into the red reopening tier Tuesday.

Santa Barbara County has to be in the red tier for 14 days to allow K through 12 schools to reopen with in-person instruction. 

If that happens, the District wants to be ready.

The District is working with the Orcutt Educators Association to lay out a hybrid plan aimed at protecting both students and teachers.

Once given the green light, reopening classrooms will be gradual, starting with the youngest students.

“We will likely start that same week.  What we are talking about this week is maybe looking at Thursday.  Having those TK kids start to come to campus,” said Holly Edds, Orcutt Union School District Superintendent.

Accommodating the preferences and needs of both teachers and families is a complicated process. There are people who would like to get back in the classroom as soon as possible and there are others who prefer distance learning, at least for now. “So our HR department is going to do a lot of shuffling and rearranging in a very short period of time to get the needs of everybody met," said Monique Segura, President, Orcutt Educators Association.

Superintendent Edds says that despite all of the uncertainties, they miss the students and look forward to having them back on campus when it is safe to do so.