All eligible St. Vrain Valley School District staff who have chosen to get vaccinated against COVID-19 are expected to receive their second dose by spring break, Superintendent Don Haddad said during Wednesday night’s school board meeting.
As of Tuesday, 94% of teachers and staff had received or had the opportunity to schedule a vaccination appointment.
In two weeks, close to 5,000 SVVSD employees were able to get a dose of the vaccine or get an appointment, Haddad said.
Gov. Jared Polis on Jan. 29 moved school staff higher in the state’s coronavirus vaccine priority, with shots for educators starting Feb. 8.
UCHealth, Nextera and Safeway continue to work in partnership with SVVSD for vaccination distribution, Haddad said, adding Kaiser Permanente also has indirectly contributed to the distribution strategy for the district.
As the district eyes a return to four days of in-person learning for students at all grade levels when they return from spring break, its quarantining protocol will remain consistent with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Boulder County Public Health safety guidelines and protocols, which require anyone within 6 feet of an infected individual, or 12 feet if not wearing a mask, for more than 15 minutes to quarantine for 10 days, Haddad said.
However, those who have been vaccinated will not necessarily need to be quarantined, he said, which will support school operations.
Heightened safety and cleaning protocols also will continue to be in place throughout the district, Haddad said.
SVVSD also will continue to work toward expanding the school week to five days and the school year into the summer, he said.
“Students should be in school for five days a week … across Colorado four days has become more utilized than five, which I do not agree with or support, and across the United States that has become a trend,” Haddad said.
More than 60% of the 178 school districts in Colorado were using a four-day school week, as of August, according to a Colorado Department of Education report. While shorter school weeks might be a common trend during COVID, it was something Colorado has seen prior to the pandemic.
This state led the nation in the number of districts that had moved to four-day school weeks prior to COVID, a trend that has increased since 2005 and especially so in the past five years, the Colorado Sun reported in 2019.
The last year has been a burden on students, parents and teachers but Haddad said COVID has shined a light on the value of public education in the country and its impact on economic development, public safety, national security, property values, the service industry, health, well-being and happiness.
“We have the opportunity to advance beyond where we were prior to COVID. … There are some things we have done through COVID that we will institutionalize, many of our cleanliness and hygiene and sanitizing (practices) we are going to continue to do those things forever,” he said. “I also think it’s created an opportunity for us to extend the school year, institutionalize that, extend opportunities after school during the school year, extend it into weekends. ... There’s a lot we can add value to our school system.”
Elementary-level students, who currently attend school in person four days a week, can visit school libraries on Fridays for supervised independent learning time. Secondary students will have the same opportunity when they return to school four days a week after spring break, which is March 22-26.
SVVSD also is working to continue closing the gap over the summer with other programs, Haddad said.
SVVSD will provide a summer jumpstart program, in which participants will start the school year two weeks early, he said. Other summer options will include e-credit recovery; science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, or STEM camps, and the Project Launch literacy program.
“We are definitely a school district that supports more time in person in the classroom. … It doesn't necessarily mean that I support everybody having to go to school throughout the month of June,” Haddad said. “But I do think there should be those opportunities.”
