Public school districts in Santa Maria and Orcutt have had no choice but to further delay plans for returning to in-person learning once again, as Santa Barbara County's purple tier status and skyrocketing COVID-19 cases leave the future uncertain. In response to the second COVID-19 spike and accompanying state restrictions, the Santa Maria Joint-Union High School District has revised their reopening plan created earlier in the year, eliminating the January target date for initiating the hybrid model. Instead, the district must wait until Santa Barbara County has been in the state's red tier for two weeks to shift into hybrid learning. Based on current COVID-19 trends, district officials have designated March 1 as the earliest possible return date.