February 11, 2021

Good Evening Belmont-Redwood Shores Community,

Today the Belmont Redwood Shores School District and Faculty Association reached a tentative Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic and Return To In-Person Instruction.  

Pending Ratification by the BRSSD Board of Trustees and BRS Faculty Association, the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District will return to in-person instruction when San Mateo County reaches the Orange Tier. Furthermore, we have reached an agreement to return to in-person instruction at the Red Tier, provided all staff assigned to in-person instruction have had the opportunity to receive their complete vaccination. BRSSD will continue to also offer a distance learning model.

Providing for return in the Red Tier with vaccination provides our District greater flexibility. This is encouraging, especially in light of Senator Josh Becker’s announcement this week regarding a push for educators to receive vaccine priority.

As conditions in San Mateo County Change, we will continue to share updates. We are pleased to see the adjusted case rate and positivity rate fall again this week to 15.4 and 3.8%, respectively. If this trend were to continue, we are hopeful that we might be able to take our next step in early March. As a part of this agreement,

  • TK-5 students assigned to hybrid instruction will be assigned to a 2.5 hour instructional block in a morning or afternoon session on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Morning and afternoon sessions will be combined on Wednesdays for a 2.5 hour distance learning block. Teachers will have the opportunity for planning, preparation, professional development, and staff meetings on Wednesday afternoons.

  • Middle school hybrid learning schedules will vary by school site. 

  • Nesbit and Sandpiper students will keep their team of teachers on campus in stable cohorts for hybrid students. 
  • Ralston students in hybrid will receive daily instruction in all six classes; three periods will be on campus and three will be via distance learning from home. On Wednesdays, students will see all six teachers via distance learning. 
  • In all cases, there will be a shift to current schedules in order to balance out the logistical challenges of teaching students both in hybrid and distance settings. Additional details will be shared by site principals. 

  • All students assigned to full distance learning will continue to receive daily, live instruction per SB98 guidelines. Ralston students in full distance learning will continue to follow a 7-period schedule. Nesbit and Sandpiper students continuing in distance learning will keep their team of teachers.

  • All staff will be provided with personal protective equipment meeting or exceeding the most stringent requirements set in place. Staff will be tested on a routine basis. The District will promote student and family testing opportunities as they become available.

  • The District will continue to encourage and support the development of “pods” for vulnerable learners within the Purple Tier per our previous memorandums of understanding with the Belmont-Redwood Shores Faculty Association and the California School Employee Association.

  • As a reminder, our district website contains detailed health and safety program information.

Even though we’ve worked to provide a strong distance learning program for our families, we recognize that this is not the same as in-person instruction and it may not have met every student and family need. We’re pleased that our in-person model will provide an exceptional experience for our students and our staff, including:

  • High-quality core content focused on key instructional standards.
  • Daily connections with their classroom teacher(s) to increase student/teacher engagement and rapport.
  • Opportunity for all students TK-8.
  • Comprehensive middle school instruction allowing for diversity of curriculum and classes.
  • A focus on building successful practices for our students and honoring the professional expertise of our staff.

This year, one of our priorities has been to unify our teaching and learning community and build strong relationships. The Memorandum of Understanding provides support for the diverse opinion in our community. The District would like to acknowledge and thank the Belmont-Redwood Shores Faculty Association for their continued effort to reach this agreement. Additionally, we would like to thank our community for their continued support and understanding.

We will continue internal preparation for the transition with staff beginning this week. Families will receive model assignments the first week of March along with additional schedule details and timelines. Teacher assignments will follow in hopes of a transition to our dual model mid-March.  

While this agreement provides us a pathway forward for this year, it also provides us a platform for forward planning into next year. Given health conditions and vaccination distribution, we are confident in our forward progress and a strong in-person start (likely with a distance option) for the fall of 2021-22!

As we enter mid-winter break, please remember to continue to follow state and local four-pillar guidance that require appropriate health and hygiene, face coverings, physical distancing, and limited social gatherings. I want to thank you for your continued support and wish you a wonderful mid-winter holiday break. School will not be in session February 15-19 and will resume on Monday, February 22!  


Dan Deguara
Superintendent