Unlike some school districts, Denair Unified has been measured and uber cautious in how it has reopened its four campuses in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Small groups of students began returning to class a few weeks ago in what are called “learning pods.”

In most cases, those students are either in special education, are English learners, are enrolled in Denair Elementary Charter Academy’s dual language immersion program or are in danger of failing one or more classes at the Denair High School or Denair Middle School. At Denair Charter Academy, some independent study students have resumed in-person weekly appointments with their teachers.

Though the vast majority of the district’s 1,300 students remain entirely on distance learning, this week 290 students participated in one or more days of in-person instruction. That’s consistent with the district’s conservative approach to reopening, Superintendent Terry Metzger told trustees during a Zoom meeting Thursday night.

While a few more students are starting next week, Metzger said, “We’re not going to expand until after Thanksgiving. We will determine how many students will come back to campus then and we’ll do the same thing after Christmas.”

Moving quickly to avoid possible COVID-related state restrictions, the Denair Unified School District decided Thursday night to begin a phased reopening of all school campuses after more than six months of distance learning only.

The unanimously approved change came after a special Board of Trustees meeting at which Superintendent Terry Metzger outlined the district’s comprehensive reopening plan and stressed the urgency of enacting it immediately.

That’s because Stanislaus County is on the verge of being downgraded Tuesday from “red” to “purple” on the state’s color-coded COVID watch list, denoting worsening health conditions in the county because of the pandemic. Schools that reopen while the county is still in the red tier may stay open even if the county reverts to the purple tier, where it was until Oct. 13. But campuses that are not reopen by that time cannot do so until the county has been in the red tier for at least two more weeks.

If Denair doesn’t reopen by Monday and the county slides into purple status, it could be well after the first of the year before students could return to in-person classes. All students have been distance learning since mid-March.

Denair students may be away from campus in a distance-learning environment, but they still will commemorate Red Ribbon Week next week, just like they have for years. Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 as a way to discourage drug use among children while promoting healthy behaviors.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was one of the original proponents of Red Ribbon Week. It is a tribute to former Drug Enforcement Agency agent Enrique Camarena, who was killed during an undercover assignment in Mexico.

Though the COVID pandemic has forced students and staff into a virtual world since mid-March, each campus in the Denair Unified School District has planned a number of events starting Monday. All are being coordinated by staff as well as student members of the PHAST (Protecting Health and Slamming Tobacco) Clubs. This year’s theme is “Be Happy. Be Brave. Be Drug Free.”

Thursday is the deadline for parents of students in the Denair Unified School District to let officials know whether they want their children to transition to a hybrid learning model or remain with 100% distance learning.

Denair students at all grade levels have been taught using distance learning since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because health conditions in Stanislaus County have improved recently, Denair is now able to plan to bring some students back to its campuses for limited face-to-face instruction. No date has been set, but it is likely to be in November.

Parents received electronic and mailed letters last week from Superintendent Terry Metzger asking them to choose from two models.

Projections of future deficit spending by the Denair Unified School District caught the eye of state and county officials, who worry such a scenario is the slippery slope that could return Denair to the precarious financial situation it was in eight years ago.

School districts pass budgets in June that govern fiscal years that begin July 1. Each budget anticipates spending not only for that year, but for two years into the future. In Denair’s case, the balanced budget school trustees approved June 4 also projects the district will spend $151,593 more that it receives in state and other funding in 2021-22. The district’s plan would be to dip into its reserves that year to make up the difference.