Oxnard Union High School District prepares safety plan for students’ return to campus

OXNARD, Calif. -- The Oxnard Union High School District has a safety plan set in place once students and staff are allowed back on campus.

The school district is preparing to welcome students and staff back on campus, but it will look very different. Each student and staff member in the district's 11 schools will go through temperature screening.

“When students come to school, they will have their temperature scanned through a walk-thru scanner and check-in at a kiosk where they will answer questions related to COVID-19,” said Tom McCoy, who is the superintendent at Oxnard Union High School District.

If the student shows any symptoms, they will go through another screening. If there are still signs of COVID, the student will be sent home. The district is preparing for different groups of students Tuesday through Thursday. Each group will have one-third of the student population.

“Right now the class size is going to be limited to 13 students, and that is to make sure that there is a four to six foot spacing between the kids in class,” said McCoy.

Masks are required, and sanitizer is in every classroom along with new ventilation.

“We purchased an area air scrubber that has two filters including a HEPA and MERV 13 filter, and those are going to be changed every three months,” said McCoy. “The air in the classroom is exchanged six times per hour.”

Administrators hope students will be back soon.

“Once the red tier starts, we need to wait five days and our hope is that Tuesday the 16th of March will be the first day that we have kids starting to return,” said McCoy. “Right now, our return is voluntary for students and for staff.”

There will also be free COVID testing on campus.

“We are excited and we are attentive to the fact that we closed on March 13th of 2020, and we may be able to open on March 16th of 2021,” said McCoy.