A Sacramento district’s plan to open secondary schools was denied. Now it wants state OK

Many Folsom Cordova Unified elementary students have been back on campus since November, but district officials are facing hurdles as they try to bring back middle school and high school students.

Sacramento County Public Health denied a reopening waiver Folsom Cordova Unified submitted in February to bring secondary students back on campuses in a hybrid model.

Elementary aged students returned to campuses in November just before COVID-19 cases began to surge.

The county, according to district spokesperson Angela Griffin, denied the waiver due to a difference in interpretation of the eligibility requirement and what “phased reopening” meant. The disapproval was not due to the district’s safety plan. Because the district didn’t have a grade level open yet for secondary, the county denied their request, according to the district. Sixth grade students returned to campuses on March 4.

The county health department did not return a request for comment.

So the district moved onto seeking approval from the California Department of Public Health, with additional rationale to reopen on March 3. The state has seven days to respond. A decision from the state is expected this week.

It’s possible that Sacramento County could enter the red tier next week, allowing Folsom Cordova Unified to bring students back.

In a March 8 letter to the state, Assemblymembers Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, and Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, district board member Joshua Hoover, and others requested the California Department of Public Health Safe Schools for All Team immediately approve Folsom Cordova Unified’s application for the sixth grade levels.

Several waivers to reopen high schools have been denied in Southern California. The CDPH denied waivers for Carlsbad Unified, Poway Unified and San Dieguito Union High School districts. The state denied Carlsbad Unified’s waiver application because the district did not have asymptomatic testing in place, and the number of students returning to in-person instruction was too low.

Several school districts in Sacramento County plan to reopen in the upcoming weeks, but most middle and high schools are dependent on when the county enters the red tier.

Jay Reed, a parent of a high school freshman at Folsom High School, said parents were pinning their hopes on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to get students back in the classroom before April 1.

“The governor promises one thing and CDPH denies it,” Reed said. “What would be helpful is if CDPH got out of the way.”

Reed said the delay in reopening has taken a toll on high school students.

“Kids are suffering from isolation, mental wellness and of course academics,” he said. “The bottom line is that if the governor is serious about getting kids – all kids – back to school he would have. He has full authority to make it happen but chooses for school districts to get caught up in endless Sacramento bureaucracy.”