California education news: What’s the latest?

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order saying closed schools could still receive state funding, but only if they meet a series of conditions, including providing students with “high quality educational opportunities” through distance learning or independent, continuing to provide school meals, and “to the extent practicable arranging for the supervision of students during school hours.” It is unclear how school districts will be able to satisfy those conditions.

All classes at the three colleges in the San Diego Community College District are canceled for the week beginning March 16. Classes at those colleges — which include San Diego City, San Diego Mesa and San Diego Miramar colleges — will resume in online formats on March 23. “Our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff. We also must ensure the continuation of instruction and operations. This is a challenging time but if we keep these two priorities in mind, we will manage it well,” Constance Carroll, the district’s chancellor, said in a statement.

Several county superintendents in California have recommended that all schools in their counties close due to coronavirus. So far, those counties include Alameda; El Dorado; Los Angeles, which includes 80 districts; Marin; Orange; Placer; Riverside; Sacramento; San Diego; San Francisco; San Mateo; San Joaquin; Sonoma; and Santa Clara. In most cases the decision was made in conjunction with the county public health offices.

Al Mijares, superintendent of schools for Orange County, said, “We got a ton of calls from parents wanting their schools closed.” The tipping point toward closing was the advisory from Gov. Gavin Newsom banning groups of gatherings of more than 250 people. Many high schools have several thousand students in close contact. “There was a consensus among our superintendents that we should find a common period for closing to avoid confusion and settle the reaction of some people who felt districts were not cautious enough and others who felt they were being too cautious.”

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified is closing all schools to students March 13-16, but teachers and staff will report to work to plan for possible extended school closures starting March 17. The district will thoroughly clean schools because a community member with children in district schools was exposed to the virus and the district was experiencing a high rate of absenteeism. Officials will announce on March 17 whether the closures will continue.

West Contra Costa Unified is closing all schools for three weeks starting March 16 due to concerns over contact between students and staff members with others who may have coronavirus. It moved spring break from the week of April 6 to the week of March 30, with classes resuming April 6. The district will continue to provide instruction via laptops and tablets using online tools, while younger students will take packets of work to take home. Meals will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at several schools during the first two weeks of the closure.

San Francisco Unified is closing all schools in the district March 16 through April 3 due to concerns about the spread of the virus. It plans to provide meals to students who rely on them and advises parents to avoid leaving children with elderly care givers, since they are most susceptible to the virus.

Natomas Unified is closing all schools in the district March 13-16 because a medically fragile student at Natomas High came to school with symptoms of the virus. The school will be deep-cleaned and district officials will announce Sunday whether schools will remain closed Tuesday.

Sacramento State University announced it would begin transitioning to online courses for the remainder of the spring semester starting March 16.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said schools do not fall under his executive order to cancel non-essential gatherings of more than 250 people until at least the end of March. He said schools are considered “essential” and local officials should consult guidance sent out Saturday before deciding whether to close. In making his decision, Newsom said he considered the impact of school closures on low-income students who rely on school meals and students whose parents may be on the front lines of fighting the virus like law enforcement and medical professionals who would not be able to assist the community if they were home caring for their children. To distance students from each other, Newsom suggested that schools stagger P.E. classes, cancel assemblies and provide meals in classrooms or other isolated settings. He also recommended “common sense” sanitization practices. While some K-12 schools and colleges have turned to online learning, Newsom said they must consider educational equity because a lot of students may not have access to laptops or wi-fi. “It’s a point of real concern,” he said. “Those that can, do. And those that can’t, are unable.” When asked if his own kids are still in school, Newsom said, “They are.”

Parlier Unified announced on March 9 that it would close two of its schools — Parlier High and Mathew J. Brletic Elementary — March 10-13 for deep cleaning after the Fresno County Department of Health determined that a district student recently traveled to an area at risk for the virus.

The Oakland Unified School District announced on March 11 that two students — one from Oakland Technical High School and the other from Oakland High School — may have been exposed to a person at another location who has tested positive for the coronavirus. The students show no symptoms but agreed to self-quarantine at home. The high schools remain open. The district declined to identify where the students may have been exposed. The district also cancelled most activities through April 5, the end of spring break.

California Community Colleges
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of California’s community college system, on March 11 told presidents of the state’s 114 community colleges with face-to-face classes that they have the green light to move classes online. Colleges typically need to get approval from the state chancellor’s office to do that, but Oakley told the presidents that they can convert classes online as soon as they deem it necessary and get the administrative approval later.

So far, more than a dozen community colleges across the state have announced plans to move classes online, including all nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest community college district in the state.

California State University
Cal State Fullerton will move all classes online effective March 25 and continuing until April 26. From March 12 through March 20, faculty will be encouraged but not mandated to teach classes online, except for on March 17 and 18, when virtual teaching will be mandatory for a two-day trial period. All classes will be canceled on March 23 and March 24 to allow faculty to make final adjustments before online teaching becomes mandatory.

The California Department of Public Health issued the latest tallies of positive COVID-19 cases in California. Of the 157 confirmed cases, two are children in the 0-17 age group, 91 are in the 18-64 age range, and 60 are 65 or older. Four are of unknown age. Eighteen public health labs in California are testing for the virus.

California State University
Cal State Northridge announced it would cancel classes March 12 through March 15. The university will be on spring break next week, but classes will resume online on March 23 and continue to be held virtually through April 19.

The San Jose Evergreen Community College District suspended in-person classes at San José City College, Evergreen Valley College, and the Milpitas College Extension from March 11 until March 16. When classes resume on March 16, they will be offered in an online or other distance learning format, to the extent possible, and remain in this alternate mode of delivery through at least April 6.

Mission College in Santa Clara is suspending in-person classes starting March 11 and continuing into April. Classes will resume in waves on March 16, March 23, and April 6 as online courses or with alterations. Lists of classes will be published on the college website and through direct communications from instructors.

K-12 Schools
The Los Angeles Unified school board voted March 10 to declare a state of emergency across the district, authorizing superintendent Austin Beutner to take “any and all actions necessary” in response to the coronavirus. No immediate actions were taken March 10 but Beutner now has the ability to unilaterally relocate students or take any other steps he deems necessary. The emergency powers also allow him to enter into any contract for any dollar amount without going through the usual approval process.

University of California
Most University of California campuses have announced plans to suspend in-person courses. UC Irvine, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara became the latest to move classes online, joining UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz and UC San Diego. UC Merced also said the campus would begin “moving toward remote learning.”

UC Davis, meanwhile, says it is “strongly encouraging faculty to go online with their teaching” and has canceled in-person final exams for next week.

The only other UC campus, UCSF, the medical school which offers only graduate courses, has not suspended in-person classes but has canceled large events on campuses.

California State University
San Diego State plans to move most classes online. From now until the end of spring break on April 3, moving classes online is voluntary and up to each individual instructor. Beginning April 6, the policy will be mandatory, with minor exceptions, such as small lab courses that will continue to meet face-to-face.

San Francisco State has canceled all in-person classes for the remainder of this week. They will resume on March 16 and be held online or through other remote methods until April 5.

Sacramento State faculty have the option of moving their classes online but it is not mandatory. In-person classes will continue for courses whose instructors do not choose to move them online.

CSU East Bay is canceling all in-person lecture, discussion and seminar courses online for all three East Bay campuses beginning March 11. Instruction will resume on March 16 at the regularly scheduled date and time. Courses currently offered online will continue as scheduled.

Cal State Long Beach became the latest university to suspend in-person classes. The university canceled those classes from March 12 through March 17 to allow faculty time to prepare for remote instruction. Courses will resume online beginning March 18.

A student who attends a private, Catholic school operated by the San Francisco Archdiocese has tested positive for the virus, Superintendent Pamela Lyons announced March 10. All 90 schools operated by the archdiocese will close from March 12-25.

UC Santa Cruz on March 10 became the latest university to suspend in-person classes. Chancellor Cynthia Larive said in a message to the campus that, through April 3, most courses would be offered through alternate methods, but added that some lab courses would continue to meet in person.

Gov. Gavin Newsom met with State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and county superintendents on March 9 to hear their concerns about coronavirus and how it could impact schools. Kindra Britt, spokeswoman for the California Department of Education, said the California Department of Public Health is the lead agency working with districts to help them determine if school closures are necessary. She said the state Department of Education wants districts to act the best interests of their students and staff and said that funding questions can be worked out later on a case by case basis.

On March 9 UC San Diego, San Jose State University, San Francisco State, Santa Clara University and University of San Francisco’s School of Law joined UC Berkeley and Stanford University in moving to online-only instruction, on varying timelines. More colleges are expected to follow.