Lessons in higher education: What California can learn
Keeping California public university options open
Superintendents: Well-paid and walking away
The debt to degree connection
College in prison: How earning a degree can lead to a new life
Library or police, a small town’s struggle puts a spotlight on library inequities across California
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday the creation of one online spot where school districts can find technical information and resources, and parents can find answers and lodge concerns on reopening schools during the pandemic. It includes a website that will launch later this month that will list Covid outbreaks by school and district and permit parents to file complaints online and through a hotline telephone if their schools are not following safety protocols. It also includes a single 51-page document of all previous state regulations and guidelines.
The new Safe Schools for All Hub, linking to California Department of Public Health guidelines and providing new resources and rationales for the state’s Covid strategies, elaborates on Newsom’s initial Safe Schools for All plan that he announced on Dec. 30. He had promised but not detailed more transparency, data and reassurances to justify his goal of reopening elementary schools in February and March.
Since then, the focus has been on $2 billon in grants that Newsom said would be available to schools that agreed to send elementary students back to school, starting Feb. 15. They would have to negotiate a health and safety plan with employee unions by Feb. 1 and start a comprehensive testing program for students and staff.
Some districts, not only seven of the largest urban districts that wrote Newsom a highly critical letter, but also understaffed smaller districts, have complained that the state was offering financial incentives but no help to meet the tight timetable and added responsibilities, and had not provided details on the safety plan and logistics of testing. Newsom had offered to give school districts a highly discounted price for Covid tests run through a new state-built lab in Valencia but districts were worried they would have to set up billing and specimen collection systems.
The “one-stop” information site, which the governor’s staff said has been in the works for weeks, and a promise of more state assistance, are a response to districts’ criticisms and parents’ confusion over the state’s approach to the pandemic. More elements of the Safe Schools for All plan will be released in coming weeks, Ben Chida, Newsom’s deputy chief cabinet officer, said during a webinar on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Legislature will decide whether to approve or revise the separate issue of Newsom’s financial enticements for a quick return to in-person instruction. Legislative hearings are expected next week.
The new “hub” also contains a five-page checklist of requirements for a mandated safety plan that districts have been waiting for.
The administration also consolidated all previous state regulations and guidelines into a single 51-page document. Districts had been calling for one document along those lines that would make it easier to keep track of directives issued during the pandemic, and help resolve contradictions in requirements between state health guidelines and new Cal/OSHA safety and health regulations.
The consolidated document – COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Instruction Framework & Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools in California – clarifies rules on wearing masks, maintaining social distancing in classrooms and sets lower infection rates for permitting elementary school grades to return to school:
The hub also includes:
Starting on Jan. 25, districts will be required to report the status of school reopenings every other week. They must detail by grade whether in-person instruction is full-time or part-time through a hybrid model and whether small cohorts of high-needs students, including homeless children and students with disabilities, are receiving services.
They must also immediately report to the county offices of education any positive Covid cases of students and staff who have been on school premises. This information will then go to the state, which will produce an interactive statewide map that will show each school district’s status on reopening, safety planning and Covid cases. School districts must publish safety reopening plans or the status of plans in the works by Feb. 1.
The system has enrolled more in-state residents, but not enough to meet targets set by the state.
Two prominent organizations say the proposal would dismantle progress made to improve reading instruction for those students.
Fresno City College professor Tom Boroujeni is unable to fulfill his duties as academic senate president while on leave, the latest update reads.
This is a continuing EdSource series on proven innovations in higher education that relate to the problems facing California’s higher education systems.
Comments (6)
Comments Policy
We welcome your comments. All comments are moderated for civility, relevance and other considerations. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy.
Rebecca Gebo 3 years ago3 years ago
Who exactly was part of your task force to come up with these new guidelines for school districts in CA? Because every district here is hitting a major roadblock with the new spacing requirement and so you really need to take another look at them and think about recruiting some superintendents and teachers who have been in the field teaching in person so that you have real world experience and suggestions/insight to pull … Read More
Who exactly was part of your task force to come up with these new guidelines for school districts in CA? Because every district here is hitting a major roadblock with the new spacing requirement and so you really need to take another look at them and think about recruiting some superintendents and teachers who have been in the field teaching in person so that you have real world experience and suggestions/insight to pull from when coming up with guidelines for schools.
California Teacher 3 years ago3 years ago
All the politics and nasty letters from parents cannot compensate for the limited number of teachers available to staff the classrooms. When teachers have to be quarantined (or heaven forbid, actually get sick) - there aren't enough subs to go around. The schools won't be able to staff the classrooms and will have to shut down again. Teachers want to be back in the classroom with their students. However, this needs to be examined from … Read More
All the politics and nasty letters from parents cannot compensate for the limited number of teachers available to staff the classrooms. When teachers have to be quarantined (or heaven forbid, actually get sick) – there aren’t enough subs to go around. The schools won’t be able to staff the classrooms and will have to shut down again. Teachers want to be back in the classroom with their students. However, this needs to be examined from all angles and all scenarios must be considered.
Sylvia Flores 3 years ago3 years ago
I am interested to learn where the information that CSPs must be negotiated was obtained? Page 10 of the Framework states that the LEA must consult with labor unions …
The framework is also unclear if student testing is required of all LEAs and mandatory as a condition for attending in-person?
Stephanie 3 years ago3 years ago
This is ridiculous. LA county is massive and encompasses communities where the positivity rate is not as high. Individual districts should be allowed to make these decisions based primarily on their own community demographics and rates. You are further putting at risk those smaller, rural school districts that have the most at risk students but can’t go back because they are subject to a larger tier.
Todd Maddison 3 years ago3 years ago
Wow, this sounds great!
Rosy Weiser 3 years ago3 years ago
Does this information (Statewide system to track Covid cases in schools etc) apply only to public schools or to privates as well?