SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Grossmont Union High School District is one of two districts in our area that’s bringing students back on campus this week.
Tuesday morning, students were seen making their way back onto the campus of El Cajon Valley High. Grossmont Union High School District is moving into level three of their reopening plan.
In this blended model, the students who choose to return to school will be on campus two days per week. The rest of the time they’ll continue with distance learning.
Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Theresa Kemper says as conditions improve during the pandemic, the district believes it's time to start bringing more staff and students back.
"Now that public health conditions are improving and we see hope on the horizon with vaccines being available for teachers. We said it’s time," Kemper said.
Vista Middle School will also return to campus this week, with in-person learning one day per week.
All of this comes as the state announces a financial incentive to get students back to school. Governor Gavin Newsom says they have set aside $6.6 billion that will be distributed to districts that resume in-person learning.
Kemper says this didn’t have any impact on their decision to move forward with their reopening plan.
"We are already open for in-person instruction. So there’s nothing additional that we have to do to qualify for the incentive money. And we’re grateful for that," Kemper said.
Districts that are in the purple tier must return to in-person learning for students up to second grade. Districts in the red tier must get all elementary kids back in class plus one grade in middle and one in high school. All of this must be done by March 31.
Before this announcement was made, the county’s largest school district, San Diego Unified, had said they will return to school on April 12. It’s unclear if this incentive will have any impact on SDUSD's schedule.
