After a year of COVID-19, Laguna Beach USD on track to reopen secondary schools on March 17
Photo by Cyrus Polk – Sparkle Films.
By Breeana Greenberg, Special to the Independent
Supt. Jason Viloria reaffirmed Thursday that the Laguna Beach Unified School District’s middle and high schools are on track to reopen on Wednesday.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the district’s schools closed on March 16, 2020. Laguna Beach High School and Thurston Middle School are set to reopen for in-person classes on March 17, marking a year of school closure.
“I recognize that this has been a long and arduous journey to reopening our secondary schools to in-person instruction and I’m grateful for your patience and perseverance through this challenging time,” Viloria said.
Laguna Beach Local News
An areal view of the Laguna Beach High School track, which will temporarily close for renovations. Photo by Cyrus Polk – Sparkle Films.
The Laguna Beach Unified School District remains on track to reopen secondary schools to in-person classes on March 17 even though earlier this week Orange County narrowly missed a metric needed to enter the less-restrictive red tier, the superintendent said Thursday.
In a statement to the region’s school district superintendents, Orange County Superintendent Al Mijares said he conferred with Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau on Wednesday about the latest trends in COVID-19 cases. Chau confirmed that Orange County should enter the red tier on March 16, allowing K-12 districts to reopen the following day.
Laguna Beach Local News
An areal view of the Laguna Beach High School track. Photo by Cyrus Polk – Sparkle Films.
The Laguna Beach Unified School District is planning to reopen its secondary school campuses for in-person classes on March 17, pending official notice that Orange County has entered the state’s Red Tier for managing COVID-19, according to a statement released Wednesday.
A St. Patrick’s Day reopening means that Laguna Beach High School and Thurston Middle School will have been closed to students for just over a year because of the pandemic.
“Orange County continues to get closer to the red tier county risk level for COVID-19, which will allow us to reopen our secondary schools,” Supt. Jason Viloria said in a statement to parents late Wednesday.