The special meeting came less than a week after Kuhlman, sent out an email to families within the district outlining what the start of the spring semester will look like.
“As you are all aware, we are in the midst of a surge in COVID transmissions throughout the Southern California community,” Kuhlman wrote in an email Friday. “We’ve been monitoring this situation closely over the holiday break to ensure that we adhere closely to the requirements of State and County health orders.”
At the time, Kuhlman said that district officials would provide support to small cohorts of students throughout the district at the start of the spring semester, which began Monday.
The William S. Hart Union High School District governing board voted 4-1 to suspend small cohorts returning to campus through Feb. 8.
James Webb was the single dissenting vote against the Feb. 8 return date, stating he didn’t think the school district would be able to provide students and teachers with the safest environment by that date.
The board also voted 3-2 to postpone the discussion on having athletic conditioning return to campuses, as well as unanimously voting to cancel administration of a Jan. 26 practice SAT.
The decisions, as recommended by Superintendent Mike Kuhlman, are in line with the Targeted Safer at Home Health Officer Order. The board also agreed to continue the discussion about these decisions and leave the door open to other possibilities at successive board meetings.
“Dr. Gilchick shared that they are recommending that districts take action to limit in-person activity on campus to those students who need specialized support,” Kuhlman wrote. “Examples would include Special Education students, homeless/foster students and English Learners.”
With reported cases of COVID-19 increasing across the county, Hart District officials have allowed “increased flexibility” for their staff to work from home when possible.
“This accommodation was not made because we believe it is inherently unsafe to step foot onto our sites, but rather as an added measure to increase social distancing and to reduce the total number of people personally interacting on a daily basis,” Kuhlman wrote.