Plumas Charter and PUSD delay school start until Aug. 31 due to fires

August 21, 2020August 23, 2020 Editor

With the wildfires burning throughout the county, and evacuations or evacuation advisories in several areas, both Plumas Charter and Plumas Unified School District have made changes to their opening day plans.

Leadership teams at each entity met today and made the following announcements.

Plumas Charter School

For learning centers in Quincy, Greenville and Chester, Plumas Charter will delay on-site class offerings and distance learning until Monday, Aug. 31. For the week of Aug. 24, students will be offered light independent study work which they can complete if they are able.

Indian Valley Academy will keep to its existing plan for the first three days of school, which is to complete student assessments on site, and if air quality allows, will continue with their end of week plans for day camps.

Instructional staff will continue to prepare sites in accordance with new COVID-19 Health and Safety policies, and continue to meet individually with families for program orientation and registration.

Plumas Unified School District

Plumas Unified School District is delaying the start of school district wide until Monday, Aug. 31. Superintendent Terry Oestreich said, “While we were planning for a successful start to the school year, this was a difficult decision to make with the following contributing factors.”

She then enumerated several issues: Quincy High is an evacuation center; Portola High is preparing to be an evacuation site if needed; Greenville and Taylorsville families are affected by fires; and Chester is working with lead agencies to provide meals and shelter for Lassen or Plumas counties. Additionally, the smoke from the fires prevents classes from opening windows, which was part of the coronavirus health and safety plan.