MPUSD getting ready for back-to-school with latest COVID protocols and later start times

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV)- Monterey's new school year starts next week. Teachers and staff at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District are getting ready for fresh faces in their classrooms.

While the pandemic is still ongoing, the district said it wouldn’t be enforcing masks inside. Instead, it's strongly recommended.

The district said it follows Monterey County Public Health and CDPH guidelines. MPUSD said it’s also been going over its covid protocols, like for quarantine and isolation. 

“We really trust our health professionals,” said Superintendent PK Diffenbaugh. “They're the ones who are trained in this, they're epidemiologists, and we'll continue to follow those guidelines.”

The district is also giving out rapid tests for families who need them. The district said it has a health coordinator that oversees its covid response, which works with the health professionals on each campus. 

Angel Barraza, an incoming senior at Monterey High School, said he’s not worried about COVID-19 and is ready to start the new school year. 

“I'm hoping to see more parts of that and join more clubs,” said Barraza. “Since I didn't get a chance to do that much in my sophomore year, I’m really looking forward to it.”

On Thursday evening, MPUSD will also have a virtual town hall meeting to discuss the updated COVID -19 protocols.

KION also checked in with the Salinas Union High School District. School reps said they went from an indoor mask mandate to being strongly recommended in March. It anticipates that policy will remain in place for the start of the new year. 

But as MPUSD looks over its coronavirus guidelines, the school district has also been preparing for the upcoming school start changes. 

Under SB 328, middle school cannot start earlier than 8:00 a.m., while high school classes can't start earlier than 8:30 a.m.

MPUSD has been communicating with families about the upcoming start time changes.

The district said it’s been working on the change for some time.

MPUSD is working on rearranging both its bus and bell schedules. School leaders said the time change could be positive for students' health.

“It has the potential to be very positive,” said Diffenbaugh. “I think one thing we're emphasizing is that this doesn't mean stay up later and wake up later because you have a half an hour more to get to school.”

But Dawson Brej, an incoming junior at Monterey High School, said while the later time is nice, there might not be a difference. 

“Hopefully, that later start time will make a difference for us students that are getting to school and having to start learning early in the morning,” said Brej. “A lot of us have working parents that have the same start times for their work, so it might not be getting to school much later. But we do have a bit of time to adjust. 

Meanwhile, the Salinas Union High School District Board of Trustees approved its start time changes back in May.

Click here to see what the new bell schedules will be for MPUSD middle schools and high schools.

We also checked in with the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. They said no schools in their district would actively enforce mask mandates. They will comply with the state guidelines with masks and later start times.