Chico Unified delays full reopening of schools

Wednesday the Chico Unified School Board voted to delay full in-person instruction until Spring 2021.

Chico unified kids are back on campus -- but only part time this semester.

Nwe at 5 -- action news now reporter kristian lopez.... joins us live, kristian..

The school is erring on the side of caution..

But is that enough the curb the spread of sickness?

Hayley - the chico unified school district says it cannot guarantee complete safety.

They do say that they are doing everything to help prevent the spread of the virus.

During wednesday nights meeting they decided to keep the split schedule at least for the rest of the semester.

Tiffany ridenhour/ parent: moving forward with precautionary measures, not moving forward to fast i think is crucial to find some sort of safe normalcy.

Students in chico will now have to wait a little longer to return to full in- person classes& the reason?

Kevin bultema/assist.

Superintendent, businesses services: consistency, giving students and staff an opportunity with so much change to embrace the model in place and get more data as we go through the holiday season.

As health experts across the country say we could see a spike in cases, i asked butte county health officer, dr. robert bernstein, if opening up schools was safe.

Dr. bernstein:i would say that there is evidence across the country that reopening schools whether we are talking about k-12 or institutions of higher learning is associated with outbreaks however, if the schools follow the california state directions and requirements about how to avoid infections then i am hopeful that won't be widespread.

Kevin bultema:/we cannot guarantee complete safety what we are doing is trying to minimize the risk and taking prudent, responsible actions to do that.

Tiffany ridenhour/ parent: there have been things that we have adapted to, wearing masks, i think that we can move forward on some sort of normal.

If butte county moves back into the purple tier, the board will have to hold a meeting within 7 days to decide whether the district will go back to online or continue with the am/ pm model.

Live in chico kl action news now coverage you can count on..

A recent survey showed that only 40 percent of teachers agreed to returning to the classroom if the county is in the red tier.

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