Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that school districts and the state’s 2- and 4-year colleges and universities should reopen to full in-person instruction after June 15. The California Department of Public Health announced the state would end the color-coded tier system that restricted openings of businesses and schools. The combined announcements signal a big step toward normalcy.
In this week’s podcast, we explore the impact of Newsom’s pronouncement on the fall for K-12 schools and community colleges. A key positive takeaway said the chief lobbyist for the Association of California School Administrators, is that hybrid instruction (combining in-person and remote learning) won’t be necessary, and districts should plan with that in mind. Community colleges welcomed the message but some will phase in reopening cautiously, with an eye on vaccination numbers and Covid-19 trends this summer, said the president of a San Diego area college and the chancellor of the community college system. Both said they expect to be able to reverse the steep decline in enrollment at many of the system’s 115 colleges that offer on-campus instruction.
John Fensterwald and Louis Freedberg are the cohosts. Our guests are:
- Edgar Zazueta, Senior Director of Policy and Government Relations for ACSA, the Association of California School Administrators
- Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Chancellor, California Community Colleges
- Jack Kahn, Interim President, Palomar Community College in San Diego County
For background, read these EdSource stories: