BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Since BCSD announced its last reopening plan in July, guidelines have changed. It’s important to keep in mind that everything is contingent upon ongoing local conditions, so things may change again. However, this is the general plan.

Deputy Superintendent Mark Luque released new guidelines for the roadmap to reopen schools for in-class instruction in a meeting held Tuesday night.

Kern County currently sits in tier 1, or the Purple Tier, which is closed for in-class instruction unless a school has a waiver. Waivers are only applicable to elementary students and must be approved by the state and local public health departments.

The second option is the small cohort instruction, available to all k-12 students, which limits enrollment capacity to 25%. This small cohort instruction requires a thorough plan for each school site to be available to the local public health department but does not need to be approved.

Additionally, students and staff can not jump between cohorts.

Luque says there is a four-phase cohort return to school plan.

Phase 1 includes instruction that is focused on all self-contained special education programs with a target return school date of October 19.

Phase 2 looks at support services for foster youth and homeless students with a target return school date of November 2. Luque says students who feel more comfortable can opt for full distance learning with this option.

Phase 3 would focus on elementary school students who are English learners with a target return to school date of January 4.

Phase 4 would include the remainder of the students.

However, it does not have a start date because it's contingent upon local health conditions. Kern County would have to be in tier 2, or the Red Tier, for 14 consecutive days to start phase 4.

Luque says finalized plans with transportation, nutrition, and maintenance departments will be finalized in the near future.