State epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan this week outlined the state’s waiver process for K-6 schools that seek to hold classes in person even if they are in a county on California’s COVID-19 watchlist.
Pan, the former health officer for Alameda County, said K-6 schools can apply for a waiver to begin in-person instruction if they are located in a county that meets several criteria in spite of being on the state’s watchlist.
Individual schools must submit a site-specific plan to keep students and staff safe, taking into account input from interest groups like labor unions and parent organizations.
Those schools must then publicly post their plan and submit it to their local health officer to apply for a waiver.
California Department of Public Health officials will then review each application on a case-by-case basis, taking into account factors such as which direction indicators like coronavirus positivity rates are trending in a given county.
All 11 counties in the greater Bay Area, from Monterey to Sonoma, are on the state’s monitoring list as of Tuesday.
State public health officials issued details about the waiver process “based on evidence that is evolving about how we know this virus is behaving in children and the importance of in-person instruction for our
youngest,” Pan said.
Students will be required to work in small groups to allow them the chance for social interaction while diminishing the chance they spread the virus to another student or a teacher.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state public health officials have reiterated that schools in counties on the state’s watchlist must begin the fall semester without in-person classes unless they have a waiver.
State Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said parents who want their kids to attend classes in person during the fall semester should take heed of public health guidelines by wearing a mask, washing their hands and keeping their distance from others.
“We continue to learn from the science, we continue to learn from our own data how to stop the spread,” Ghaly said. “It really does come down to a few simple acts that can make a big difference.”
UPDATE: Contra Costa County Says No To Elementary School Waiver Process for In-Class Instruction
The California Plan is to keep every child an uneducated child! Home-school or online charter both look like excellent options. Defund California Public Schools Now!
BTW- Anyone see that San Jose Schools want to require teachers to teach online from their school classroom rather than from their living room or swimming pool? At least someone wants to keep the teacher’s union honest.
Yeah, you know those greedy teachers sitting in their million dollar homes. Just hanging out by their pool just being lazy.
I’m not sure how many teachers you know but most of them are not teaching from a pool
I don’t care where they are teaching from. My kids liked seeing their teachers at home and they were very available when they had questions for help too. When my kids stuck at home saw their teachers at home they understood what shelter in place meant.
If Ghaly wanted to learn from science … well wait, just another talking head politician … Learn from science! What a joke these fools are, cause if they followed the science we would not be where we are today. Thanks Newscum for your ‘wonderful’ leadership, you followed the great example of the dumpster in the white house. Fools!
My waiver says I live life at my own risk. I give up my right to file law suits on any person or facility.
From the SFgate article:
Pan said the waiver was created due to “evolving” evidence that the youngest children are less likely to contract and transmit the virus.
You mean like what has been known for months and months before Gavin’s iron fist decision to cater to the teachers union?
Surely this latest “revelation” about covid and young kids is because the teachers union and school districts are seeing decreased enrollment due to all distance learning mandate from Fuhrer Newsom. Now they’ll switch gears when they see funding will be in jeopardy.
Completely inept is how I describe Newsom.
He’s now putting his whiny wife on the boob tube telling us to wear masks and how to care for ourselves
Thank you for standing firm.
It’s amazing to me how many people are ok with this. Do any of you have school aged children? Ca schools already suck. I have my 8 year old enrolled in K12 online public charter school. At least I know what is being taught as I am her learning coach ( teacher ) with some online classes with a Certified teacher. Keep in mind that the kids that will suffer are the ones with working parents. Some of which probably don’t even speak English in their homes. Do you really think these kids will get an A+ education? You reap what you sow…
Here s what the shortsighted masses
Fail to consider: children are carriers of the virus. When the teachers go down, how many substitute teachers are going to be lined up to take their place? The classrooms are going to require more teachers for smaller group numbers as it is. The potential for complete school shut downs is high. Teachers would rather be in the classroom as that is the medium for which they were trained. Working ala distance learning requires much more time and oversight. Teachers with children are still parents themselves.
We should thank God that TB has not gone thru the schools as yet….the Covid 19 has to ease thru the society until herd immunity and or a vaccine is widely administered. Until then, on site open schools is a decision that puts the education community at undue risk and in so doing may create an avalanche that lands on the whole local population.