By John Fensterwald – EdSource
Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t mention it in his hour-long press conference on Friday, but new state guidelines banning in-school instruction in counties on a monitoring list for coronavirus infections includes a waiver provision that could exempt elementary schools.
On Friday, hours after Newsom released his guidelines, Santa Clara County’s superintendent of public schools and the director of public health sent out a letter inviting public and private school officials to apply for the waiver.
“The County Public Health Department and Santa Clara County Office of Education strongly encourages elementary schools to follow this process so that they can safely resume in-person instruction this fall,” said the letter signed by county Superintendent Mary Ann Dewan and Dr. Sarah Cody, director of the county’s public health department.
Other county superintendents reported getting many questions about possible waivers over the weekend.
“The waiver provision in the guidance is generating a lot of attention around the state,” said Edgar Zazueta, senior director of policy and government relations for the Association of California School Administrators.
Cody and other county health officers would have the authority to grant the waiver after consulting with the California Department of Public Health, according to the wording, which can be found as a footnote in a 5-page “framework” for reopening in-person learning for K-12 schools that was released on Friday.
The waiver provision was not mentioned in the 19-page Covid-19 Industry Guidance: Schools and Schools-Based Programs, also released on Friday, nor in a press release from Newsom’s office. When asked about it during a press conference on Monday, Newsom acknowledged a waiver would be possible but did not elaborate.
More than 30 of California’s 58 counties, encompassing nearly all the state’s urban and suburban counties, are on the watch list, which requires that they close bars, malls and indoor restaurants, along with in-person school instruction, for a minimum of 14 days. Counties could come off the list only if their coronavirus data fell below a number of benchmarks, including rates of infection, transmission and hospitalization.
A waiver would permit at least some elementary school children, perhaps in small groups, to attend schools during that period if they follow the state’s safety guidelines.
The footnote mentioning the waiver opportunity does not elaborate on which conditions must be met before a county health officer could allow in-person instruction.
It reads as follows: A waiver of these criteria may be granted by the local health officer for elementary schools to open for in-person instruction. A waiver may only be granted if one is requested by the superintendent (or equivalent for charter or private schools), in consultation with labor, parent and community organizations.
Local health officers must review local community epidemiological data, consider other public health interventions, and consult with (the California Department of Public Health) when considering a waiver request.
What’s not clear is whether “consultation” means that opposition from teachers unions would prevent a superintendent from seeking a waiver.
The California Teachers Association has stated that a large majority of teachers would not return to school until conditions are safe.
During the webinar explaining the guidelines Monday, newly-appointed California State Epidemiologist Dr. Erica Pan said that her office would put in place by the end of the week the process by which county health officers could determine if local Covid-19 data and safety measures, including protective equipment at school and the availability of testing, would permit a waiver.
She said that the waiver would apply to K-8 school districts.
Along with perhaps some school districts, charter schools and private schools in Santa Clara County, which includes 19 districts in San Jose, rural elementary districts in counties on the monitoring list might be the first in line.
“I do think we will have candidates,” said Michael Hulsizer, chief deputy for governmental affairs for the superintendent of schools in Kern County. “The metrics in rural districts are not the same countywide or, in
Bakersfield.”
A week before the new state guidelines were announced, about a third of districts in the county were considering a hybrid form of instruction, including some in-school instruction. Some of these might be interested, perhaps initially on a smaller scale, he said.
In encouraging districts to consider a waiver, Dewan and Cody emphasized that “based on the current best available scientific evidence,” the risks that children under 12 would transmit the coronavirus to adults and become infected themselves would be low, compared with other older children and adults. And they wrote that in-person instruction is “academically and socially critical for younger students” – and especially so for lower- income students who are “particularly harmed” by a lack it.
Dewan said in an interview Sunday that her letter “was not at all an effort to circumvent or undermine” the new state regulations or to return to full in-person instruction. But many districts have been considering in-school learning centers to supplement distance learning for small groups of “high-needs students.”
That might be one possibility, she said. Districts would set their own priorities, which could include students who have lacked computers and internet access at home, homeless and foster children and students with disabilities. Any permission for in-school instruction “would not be a waiver of safety requirements by any stretch and would require full adherence” to the new state rules on masks and social distancing, she said.
“There is a question what the provision’s intent is,” Zazueta said. “Is it aimed at allowing small groups for targeted in-person instruction or to give communities within a county a pathway to open up, even if the county is on the monitoring list?”
I can remember when the school waiver was just an old guy standing on the corner moving his arm.
Martinez Unified should apply for this. Martinez has one of the lowest COVID rates in the county and the MUSD only served Martinez and associated county.
Kids need to be back at school.
I’m so worried about MTZ! You are right they should apply. Our superintendent is leaving us during this crisis and moving on for more pay! As of Aug 1 we will not have any leadership. CJ was a great asset to our community – it’s terrible he is leaving especially now. So sad.
I 100% agree that kids need the structure of school and in person instruction. There is no question that is what is best for our kids. This has been incredibly hard for families scrambling to prepare for DL and not knowing what to expect.
Totally honest question here (no judgment of anyone here regardless of different standpoints) Has anyone thought maybe there are not many cases with children because schools have not been in session since the State of Emergency was declared? I am worried that kids will get back to school and in turn due to outbreaks it will be closed again which would cause additional stress on our kids.
It is almost certain that CA will have more cases than NY this week. This will mean CA will have the most cases in the US and it does not appear to be slowing down. That isn’t a first place spot to be celebrating about.
There is also a recent study that children 10 years old and up can spread Covid-19 like adults.
I know there is no easy answer to any of this. But I feel for all the Teachers, families and students that are trying to sort out what is best to do under these difficult circumstances.
You have a very good point in what you said! It is very interesting and would be interesting to see if the data changes when and if the children go back.
There is some data and relevant experience from other countries and from childcare centers that have been open for children of frontline workers.
Interesting…. makes sense what you’re saying.
I totally agree with you. We don’t know how it will spread in a classroom because the kids have not been in school. I don’t want to be the guinea pig either.
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but it isn’t entirely unknown, and this isn’t a total leap in the dark, because the US isn’t the only country in the world with schools and Covid.
Sweden never shut down their elementary schools (or much else): their public health agency just released a report comparing their data to Finland, which did shut down schools. Their verdict: keeping young kids in schools didn’t make a difference. They also calculated risk in various professions: teachers were not at more-than-average risk of getting the virus.
22 countries in Europe reopened at least some schools, with no major outbreaks reported in connection with them. YMCAs and some other facilities have been doing childcare for kids of front line workers all through the Covid situation in the US: no outbreaks reported.
Israel reopened schools with no distancing and they had some spread, but it was particularly in high schools from what I have read. A big South Korean study came out and kids under ten are said to have much less chance of catching it *and* passing it on.
I mean, i understand being somewhat nervous about this, particularly if you are a teacher and you aren’t confident the school district is going to out the resources and planning in place to mitigate risk. Schools need to take care of their staff, and keep the most at-risk ones out of the classroom. And maybe high schools or even middle schools just shouldn’t reopen. But elementary schools are lower risk and young kids get almost nothing out of distance learning. And their parents have to care for them more intensively, they can’t be left at home alone, etc. etc.
Other things in our society that serve basic, urgent needs have to be open: groceries, pharmacies, food processing plants, taxis, buses. We expect them to stay open and we work to minimize the risks. We should approach elementary school the same way.
@LED – the big difference between California and the other countries you mentioned is that we have more cases here in California than almost anywhere else in the world. You would be absolutely right to advocate for opening schools but given the current disease spread, it would be a disaster. A recent study out of South Korea noted that kids as young as 9 spread the disease at a rate similar to adults which means that 3rd grade and up will be a germ factory.
@Dan, I don’t think that’s a viable interpretation of that SK study. The first and most important point is this: it didn’t break down ages further than 10-19 and under 10, and it was the 10-19 group that was said to transmit like adults.
But also, see this thread on it: Apparently the 10-19 kids shared the same exposure as the adults in their household, so the study can’t really conclude that they are responsible for spreading it within their households. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1284794506265722881.html
Wes Pegden, a mathematician from CMU, has some other good commentary: one could just as easily conclude from this study that the 20-29 cohort is much less likely to spread the disease (which seems very implausible), or that the 10-19 cohort is half as likely to spread it outside the household.
@Dan, of course you’re right that in most of these cases there has been less virus circulating than there is in the US now. But that’s not true of Sweden, and the YCMA childcare examples *are* from the US. The point, anyway, is not that this is zero risk. But the costs to young children of not having school are very high. This should be a priority.
How about a waiver for working parents with no childcare options?
Firstw – I know of organizations that are in the process of putting together cohorts for students to be in during the distance learning that would be outside of the home and outside of the classroom. It would be similar to a 12 individual pod of students, they would have accessibility to their class or classes at school virtually and they would be overseen by adults. They would give parents the opportunity to have that child care option if they wish to have it. It’s unfortunate that the schools can’t offer these types of situations, but our district is just not prepared for what they would have to do to manage it. I am happy that parents will have this option available if they are seeking it though.
what do you do during the summer?
Dan
My kids usually attend the Pleasant Hill Teen Center and YMCA as they are to young to be home alone all day …
California has not limit that I am aware of, but many other states do – most around 10-12 years old.
What do you do with yours, since you asked?
So sending school aged children to childcare is safe but going to school is dangerous and not allowed?? I am appalled at what we are allowing happen to our children’s education. Teachers need to be protected from any risk of disease but doctors, nurses, grocery workers, childcare providers, restaurant workers, etc don’t need protection from risk??
@ parent – then keep doing that. We raise our children and do not delegate the responsibility.
Dan: Oh, parent shaming. Very original.
Dan thrives on shaming. If he couldn’t shame and lecture everyone, he wouldn’t have anything left to post.
You’re either going to get it or your not. You’re either going to die from it or not. No one can hide from it.
I’m glad to hear this – some sanity emerges. There is a pretty good body of experience globally now showing that young kids can go to school without undue risk of accelerating the spread.
I hope this happens. Kids in K though 3 especially need the contact with other kids their age and the disciplined guide of a teacher.
The districts would still have to apply and the unions would NEVER let that happen. The teachers are against working.
If you think that teachers doing distance learning with kids aren’t working you are VERY wrong. Shall I talk about my zoom schedule? included lessons, office hours, faculty meetings, and level meetings. Then there was more time not on zoom grading work, replying to emails, calling the homes of students who were struggling to get online… and that is all on top of managing the zoom schedules and classwork for my own two school age children. Teachers aren’t using this as a vacation. We are WORKING, perhaps harder than we were when we were in the classroom, because the kids aren’t right there. I don’t mean to go off, but to imply that teachers don’t want to work… we ARE working.
How nice for you, but my kids’ teachers were NOT working. They assigned busy work for parents to “teach.” That was all. Also, if you are not doing live classes, that does not count as teaching. The union was flooded by calls from hysterical teachers afraid of their own shadow and trying to get out of work. That is the truth. This whole thing has been an insane mess and we need top open up the schools.
@Wayne
That’s a bunch of bull$hit.
My son has regularly reported that his schools bathrooms have NO SOAP I can’t think of anything more disgusting and germ causing
@Janon….I surely can, you need a list? There’s a reason people in the Middle East eat with only their right hand.
My son said almost all the soap dispensers were routinely vandalized. I can picture the same thing happening to any newly installed hand sanitizing stations.
@Firstw,
Student’s usually vandalize the soap dispensers out of frustration because the dispensers are out of soap and Union lazy Custodians don’t care to work replacing empty soap cartridges.
Kids… all kids need to go back to school. Of course exceptions for children with comprised immune systems or those who live with people with comprised immune systems. That should be a parents choice. The idea that private schools are not allowed to open until the CA teachers unions feel its safe is crazy. I have my 17 year old going out of state to get a proper in person college education. Am I concerned… a little. But the damage of internet learning and lack of social interaction has the potential to be way worse.
This is not a matter of freedom or choice. This is a public health crisis. People need to understand that. Classrooms are not big enough to promote social distancing. If we open schools throughout California, we will have three to four weeks of in person instruction before case counts again spike and everything shuts down. You want your businesses to stay open and the economy to move forward, this is the sacrifice you need to make. You want grandma to be alive for Christmas, this is the sacrifice you need to make. This disease is real, it is becoming more dangerous and you need to take it seriously. It is not a political issue.
No one that I know will be going back to teach including myself
I know 4 teachers in CCC, all but one want to go back and would prefer to be back in the classroom.
I know several in SFUSD, all but 2 want to go back ….
I would have done far better in school if I could it at home at my leisure on a PC. Many kids report getting their work done before noon in this fashion now.
Eh.
Newsom is concerned that private schools, if allowed to open, will out-perform public schools, so he shut the private schools down too. He is capitulating to the public school teachers union, a huge campaign contributor. Hey Newsom, just say that private schools can open at their own risk, and prove me wrong.
This is child abuse! It’s being done for political gain (he thinks). It is a true shame on those that blindly vote Democrat.
We should all forget the party lines and get people to vote for the right things … not just vote because they are a Democrat or a Republican. This hard set party line voting will kill us ….
He knew that people like me would yank their kids out of public and into private. The schools would lose money because of lowered attendance. This is purely for money and control. Now I cannot put them in private because of this inane mandate.
The waiver allows them to open however they will be on double secret probation.
Wayne, the teachers were instructed to let everyone pass. Otherwise there would be no room for incoming kinders if we made kids repeat a grade. California has not been allowing kids to be held back for years now, except in rare circumstances.
Bless those teachers. I know teachers are doubling down to meet the many needs of their students. I feel sorry for the kids that may be in a dysfunctional household and are prisoners of a bad environment. Parents are having to accommodate their kids like they never had before. They are doubling down too! As a result everyone has to work harder to make this new normal work.