Santa Maria-Bonita targets April 12 for return of students
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Santa Maria Bonita School District plans to wait until after Spring Break to bring students back to elementary school campuses. The youngest students will be the first to return on April 12 followed by older grade levels.
Superintendent Luke Ontiveros did not provide specifics on when each grade level would return, but he said it would be a phased reopening in line with what other local districts are doing. The Orcutt Union School District brought back TK-K students to campus today and older students will return over the next two weeks.
Ontiveros spoke with News Channel 12 one day before he will present the plan to the school board. He said the COVID safety plan was finalized with employee groups last week.
The President of the Santa Maria Elementary Education Association confirms the safety plan has been agreed to, but says a deal has not been made with teachers on things such as the length of the day in school, how many students will be in class, and what type of instruction will be given. Jose Segura says the union has a legal right to bargain on those issues, but the district canceled negotiations as of February 24.
An April 12 opening would come more than a month after neighboring districts in Orcutt and Lompoc bring elementary school students back on campus.
"Because it's larger for us, there's a little more in terms of logistics to get it up and running," Ontiveros said. "That's really been why we're, I wouldn't say we're behind, we've just been more deliberate about how we open and the conditions around which we are going to consider for reopening."
Ontiveros points out the 12 largest elementary schools in Santa Barbara County are all in Santa Maria. All of them have over 800 students. There are a total of 21 schools in Santa Maria-Bonita.
Elevated coronavirus case rates have also caused the district to be more cautious. Ontiveros says the metrics are beginning to look better with COVID-19 positivity numbers in Santa Maria coming more in line with the rest of the county, albeit still higher than any other city.
"This is not just something from April to June," Ontiveros said of reopening plans. "Some of these conditions are likely to persist into the next school year so we've got to make sure we're building a plan that's flexible and durable and adaptable to changing conditions."
Ontiveros said coordinating transportation for students to and from school is the biggest unresolved issue. The district contracts busing out to Student Transportation of America and they are working together to figure out a plan that allows for social distancing.
"We transport a number of children in Santa Maria-Bonita," Ontiveros said. "And we can't just assume that everybody's going to be in a position to get their child to school."
State leaders passed the "Safe and Open Schools Plan" last week, encouraging schools to open by March 31. Ontiveros said Santa Maria-Bonita will not lose any state funding by not bringing students back to campus until after Spring Break starting the week of April 12.
Extended Interview: Santa Maria-Bonita School District superintendent Luke Ontiveros
