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Superintendent urges phased return tied to 5% infection threshold; surveys, learning centers and vaccine access planned
Summary
Superintendent outlined a phased plan tied to a 5% seven‑day infection rate: open learning centers first, then phased in‑person instruction once rates are stably below 5%; DPSCD will deploy family and employee surveys, stand up an online learning task force, operate hubs and pursue an MOU with the city health department to provide vaccine access to employees and contracted workers.
Superintendent (identified in the transcript as Doctor Nikolai Aviti) delivered an extended report on the district’s COVID‑19 response and planning for a return to in‑person learning, telling the board he favors a data‑driven, phased approach.
He said the district is using a seven‑day infection‑rate average and has set a working threshold of 5% as the point below which it would consider reintroducing in‑person learning. Under the approach he described, the district would first reopen learning centers for students who need in‑person support and then phase in full in‑person instruction only after the infection rate is consistently below 5%. He cautioned against opening and then having to close again and said his timeline anticipates learning centers could reopen in late January or early February and broader in‑person learning by mid‑February if rates decline.
To match family demand with staff willingness, the district will launch surveys for families and employees (to be distributed via students’ district email addresses) to determine preferences for in‑person, hybrid, or online learning; administrators said prior parent survey response rates exceeded 80% and they will supplement surveys with robocalls, text links, hubs and home visits for families who lack access. The superintendent also announced an online learning task force to recommend minimum attendance thresholds to prevent automatic failure, revised grading bands and limits on daily/weekly assignments to reduce screen time and student overload.
On vaccinations, the superintendent said DPSCD is not operating the public vaccine call center but is negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the city health department to host vaccine clinics for employees and contracted workers at a limited number of pilot schools. He emphasized supply limits and recommended against mandating vaccination at this time, while proposing the district could run scheduling through its Microsoft-based platform and use district and contracted nurses to administer doses.
He provided metric snapshots: average daily attendance around 72.4% (down from pre‑pandemic levels), chronic absenteeism trends, enrollment of about 49,333 students, and baseline achievement figures. He also described hubs that provide device repair, internet access and community resources, and said the district will extend home visits to reengage students who have not logged in.
Board members asked for additional data on pilot sites and emphasized protections for medically fragile and ESE students; the superintendent responded that the survey results will guide a tiered reopening that can prioritize vulnerable students and centers, but noted reopening depends on staff willingness to return.
