What Gov. Newsom’s $2 billion school reopening plan means for Sacramento-area districts
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $2 billion plan to reopen schools by early spring doesn’t mean students will return to Sacramento County campuses anytime soon. But it could mean some districts will reopen sooner than they would have otherwise planned.
The proposal, announced Wednesday and pending approval by the state Legislature, would fund increased testing and personal protective equipment to encourage some elementary schools to reopen classrooms, possibly as early as February.
Under the new plan, counties with a seven-day average of fewer than 28 cases per 100,000 residents would be allowed to open in-person classes. That’s more relaxed than the current threshold, but Sacramento-region counties are still falling far short amid an ongoing surge in cases.
All four counties within the immediate capital region — Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo — had daily rates above 40 new daily cases per 100,000 in the state’s most recent data. Sacramento County had the highest of those four, at 47 per 100,000. In Sutter and Yuba counties, the rate is above 70.
Decisions to reopen classes also requires approval from teachers’ unions. The Sacramento City Unified School District has attracted national attention for its troubles to agree on distance learning plans with its teachers’ union since the pandemic struck in March.
Following Wednesday’s announcement, David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, said in-person classes should not resume while coronavirus cases are surging and ICU capacity remains low, no matter what timeline the state releases.
“All along, our concept and our idea has been consistent that science should dictate how and when schools should reopen to in-person learning and not anyone’s artificial timeline,” Fisher said. “That hasn’t changed based on this announcement. It’s been consistent prior and it still remains teachers’ view on reopening. Our paramount priority has to be safety of students, staff and the community in general.”
Fisher said the resources Newsom announced could play a role in causing in-person classes to resume sooner than they would have without the resources. The roll out of a vaccine will also be a factor.
“Everything is kind of linked,” he said. “No one thing is going to be the silver bullet.”
The district, along with six other large districts in the state, sent a letter to Newsom’s office in November asking for criteria to help them determine when they should reopen schools. Superintendents of those districts released a joint statement Wednesday saying “we welcome the efforts by the Newsom administration to make the reopening of public school classrooms a priority.”
“We will look carefully at what is being proposed and intend to provide feedback to the Governor and his staff, as well as our legislative representatives in Sacramento, to make sure the guidelines address the needs of students and families served by large, urban districts across the state,” read the statement from superintendents in Sacramento, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco.
Sacramento, Elk Grove react
Sacramento City Superintendent Jorge Aguilar said in a separate statement that Wednesday’s announcement – both on funding and reopening requirements – was “welcome and necessary.”
“We are grateful for Governor Newsom’s focus on education with the Safe Schools for All Plan and the acknowledgment that safe in-person learning is a vital component in meeting our students’ academic, social and emotional needs,” Aguilar said in a news release.
The district, where about 71% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, has launched several initiatives aiming to prevent disadvantaged students from falling behind. The district has opened “learning hubs” at seven sites to offer in-person support for its “most vulnerable students.”
“We plan to expand this (learning hub) program in the next month, and will continue other preparations to allow all of our students the opportunity to begin a phased-in return to in-person learning,” the release said.
The hubs are not staffed by SCTA-represented teachers.
Elk Grove Unified spokeswoman Xanthi Pinkerton called Wednesday’s announcement “encouraging and positive news for all learners in California.”
The Elk Grove district had planned to resume in-person learning no sooner than Jan. 21, “but imminently contingent upon health conditions,” Pinkerton wrote in an email.
“In light of this new information, we will certainly review the details of the proposal which we understand are expected to be made available by next Friday, work with our public health and labor partners and communicate next steps,” she wrote. “Student and staff safety and learning continuity remain our top priorities.”
Under the statewide proposed plan, kindergarten through second grade students would return first. So would disadvantaged students such as foster youth, low-income families and English learners. Other elementary school students would follow in the spring. Families would keep the option to continue distanced learning if they want to.
Timelines for schools’ and districts’ reopening plans will continue to vary county by county, hinging heavily on current baselines for COVID-19 activity and how those rates progress over the course of January. It may also depend on how California’s rollout of the vaccine proceeds in the next few weeks.
Health officials have warned that a deepening of California’s current surge is probable in the coming weeks, as infections linked to gatherings on and around the Christmas and New Year holidays start to emerge.
