Santa Maria-Bonita School District

Please see the chart for updates to the locations and times that families can pick up student meals (Monday through Friday). On the days that students are on campus, they will receive a meal bag as they leave. The bag will contain lunch for that day and breakfast for the next morning. Students will also receive a morning snack on the days they are on campus for in-person learning. For off-campus days or for students who remain on Total Distance Learning, the chart lists meal distribution sites and times. These changes began April 12. The changes were made to reduce traffic and crowds of people when in-person classes begin at schools in April and May.

There are new bus stops and pick up and drop off times for students returning to in-person learning. Most students who typically ride a bus to and from school will ride the bus two days a week on their A Schedule or B Schedule. You can find the new elementary bus schedules at the links below. Busing will begin April 20. Arellanes Elementary Battles Elementary Bonita Elementary Jiménez Elementary Libbon Elementary Liberty Elementary Miller Elementary Rice Elementary Taylor Elementary Tunnell Elementary The junior high bus schedules are still being created. They will be posted as soon as they are available. Junior high students are the last group to return to in-person, on campus learning.

Preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten and first grade are the first grade levels that will return to in-person instruction on school campuses. Those students will begin learning on their campuses on April 20 or April 21. The schedule for other grade levels to return to campuses can be found at these links: English español   Most students will be on campus 2 days each week - Tuesdays/Thursdays or Wednesday/Fridays. On the other three days each week, students will participate in on-line learning from home.   Please call or email your child's school if you have questions about when your child will return to in-person instruction.  

The district has created videos in English, Spanish and Mixtec to help students, parents/guardians, and family members understand what will be different when students return to campus, most for two days each week, starting April 20 or 21, 2021. Please watch the video in the most appropriate language with your children and other family members.   English Video: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=RdDFlHE78K4 Spanish Video: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=CWPgRIb2FaA Mixtec Video: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=rKtigTafdFo The video explains about mask wearing requirements, health checks, classroom social distancing and other precautions that will help keep our school campuses safe and healthy places for students and staff members. The first students who will return for in-person instruction are preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten and First Grade children. Each week, additional grade levels of students will return for two days of on-campus learning (Tuesday/Thursday or Wednesday/Friday) until all preschool through 8th grade students who choose to return are receiving in-person instruction by the end of the week of May 10, 2021. Please click these links to see the grade-level schedule for returning to campus for in-person instruction: English schedule Spanish schedule Families/guardians have a choice to keep their children participating in Total Distance Learning for the rest of the 2020/21 school year (not returning to campus for instruction). Please contact your student(s') school(s) for more information about Total Distance Learning or call the school if you have already decided to have your child(ren) continue with on-line distance learning until the end of the school year. Each school will continue to provide specific information to its students' families to further support the transition to return to in-person instruction at that school. Schools will provide information through phone calls, texts, emails and Parent Square posts. If you have not received information about your child's schedule by the time their grade level is set to return to campus, please call your child's school. Thank you for your patience and support as we make the necessary changes to our campuses and academic programs to make health and safety for all our top priority. By working together, we can ensure that SMBSD students are receiving the highest quality education possible in the safest conditions we can provide.

The YouthWell organization has a Youth & Family Mental Health & Wellness Resource Directory that is available in English and Spanish. YouthWell adds new resources and information daily to the directory, which can be found here:   https://youthwell. org/resources/  The directory has local resources to help youth ages 0-25 and families access appropriate and available mental health and wellness services. Find therapists, support groups, treatment programs, crisis resources, and resources for those in recovery. It can be overwhelming to know where to start when a young person is struggling with a mental health challenge. YouthWell works with community partners to reduce stress for families by simplifying the process of connecting to resources in Santa Barbara County.

March 8, 2021 Dear Parents and Guardians of SMBSD students: It is hard to believe that nearly one year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic triggered the closure of school buildings in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District. Over the past year, as students have engaged in distance learning, every part of the SMBSD community has been impacted. I am humbled and grateful for the response of our students, parents, school staffs, and the entire SMBSD community in meeting the challenges we faced as a community, state, nation and world. Last Thursday, an agreement was reached in the California Assembly and Senate, along with Governor Newsom, on AB/SB 86 -- the "Safe and Open Schools Plan. " This legislation establishes March 31, 2021, as the target date for schools to return to in-person instruction, starting with grades TK-2 if a county's adjusted COVID-19 daily case rate is below 25 per 100, 000 population. As of the March 2, 2021, state reporting date, Santa Barbara County's adjusted daily case rate has declined to an average of 13 new daily COVID cases per 100, 000 population. While still in the Purple Tier, the county’s daily case rate is low enough for SMBSD campuses to begin to re-open for in-person teaching and learning. We have been working diligently in anticipation of the opportunity to return to in-person instruction to ensure a safe return to campuses for all students and staff. We will be presenting an overview of the plan for the reorientation to in-person instruction at the SMBSD school board meeting on Wednesday, March 10, at 6 p. m. The link to watch the meeting can be found here - https://smbsd-ca. schoolloop. com/board-meetings As we transition to in-person learning, students will continue to receive some of their instruction online and they will also receive some of their instruction at school with their teachers. That means that on some days students will still learn from home while other children are at school, and the next days, the groups switch. We will make every effort to keep students from the same household together on the same schedule in this rotation. However, this will be complex to schedule across all schools in the district. Additionally, families who wish to have their children remain in Distance (remote) Learning full time will be given the option to do so. Families will receive a survey by text after March 10 which will give them an opportunity to tell us if they want their children to remain in full Distance Learning or to participate in the transition model with a combination of remote learning and in-person instruction. The return of students to our campuses is the outcome we have awaited together-- thank you for your patience and your commitment to our school communities and our students. Sincerely, Luke Ontiveros Superintendent