With plans to reopen the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom signs a $6.6 billion grant that would pressure California’s districts to reopen public schools by the end of March. The Corona Norco Unified School District (CNUSD) has a new reopening plan, where—depending on whether we reach a case rate of 7 or below—we may open up at a limited capacity.

On March 9th, 2021, we were at an updated case rate of 8.3, which does not hit the maximum of 7. Once a week, we will be hearing whether we are in the red tier or not. If we are in the red tier, then we will be switching to a hybrid format the following week.

“We anticipate receiving an updated case rate mid-day Tuesday when county COVID rates are released by the State of California online,” said Superintendent Dr. Sam Buenrostro. “At this time, our current secondary hybrid model is based on 25% student capacity in which students will return to campus for in-person instruction one day a week and remain learning in a remote environment the other four days.”

I interviewed my sister who is currently attending an elementary school in the CNUSD district that is following a hybrid format: “It’s very interesting to be back at school because you have to be 6 feet apart from others. It’s also a little bit confusing because you can’t really get direct help from the teacher.” When asked if she would rather do virtual or hybrid, she said “I would rather do hybrid because I get to see my teacher and friends, which is really nice.”

Our next update on the case rate will be on Tuesday, March 16th. As for CNUSD High Schools, we would be utilizing the cohort system that was originally planned for the reopening during October-November of 2020. For more information on the hybrid model, please refer to this article.