Topics Coronavirus

September 15, 2021

West Contra Costa Unified and Oakland Unified poised to be first Northern California districts to mandate student vaccinations

West Contra Costa and Oakland Unified will follow Culver City Unified, L.A. Unified in requiring students 12 and up to get vaccinated to attend in person.

September 15, 2021

‘Pool testing’ to combat Covid on campus grows popular in California schools

Testing up to 25 asymptomatic students and staff together can save time and money in some scenarios, with minimal disruption to instruction.

September 13, 2021

Legislature reaffirms quarantined students must be in independent study to be funded

Some changes in the independent study law may help districts, but a teacher shortage remains the biggest obstacle to providing instruction.

September 10, 2021

Independent study frustrates California parents who enrolled children

California has mandated that all school districts provide independent study as the only online learning option for students in grades K-12.

September 9, 2021

LA Unified becomes largest school district to mandate Covid vaccine for students

Los Angeles Unified on Thursday voted to mandate the Covid-19 vaccine for all students 12 and older, making it the largest school district to do so.

September 9, 2021

How California’s state universities are tracking campus Covid-19 cases

Some campuses tracking vaccination rates, quarantines and weekly testing. While others only offer the number of positive Covid cases on-campus.

Ashley A. Smith And Michael Burke

Commentary

September 8, 2021

School districts must start adjusting their Covid recovery plans soon

California public schools must act now and think differently to close Covid-related staff shortages.

September 8, 2021

Could a recall-elected Republican governor really shake up K-12 schools?

A supermajority in the Legislature would rein in a new governor, who'd also face long odds on the big prize: selling a voucher initiative next year.

September 7, 2021

Vaccines are our best hope for safety in California schools and beyond

I feel calm about sending my eldest child, a second grader, to school even as I remain uneasy and unsure about a community playground where the potential for exposure to the virus could be much greater.

Dr. Smita Malhotra

Coronavirus

September 7, 2021

Covid testing was supposed to keep schools safe. What happened?

Covid test shortages and inconsistent protocols at schools are leaving California parents confused and frustrated.

Carolyn Jones

State Education Policy

September 6, 2021

Changes for educating quarantined California students proposed by governor, Legislature

State leaders recognize crisis some districts face but don't backtrack from applying independent study to students sidelined by delta variant.

John Fensterwald

Coronavirus

September 3, 2021

Covid closes rural California schools as Delta variant spreads

At least five rural schools temporarily closed this week to stop Covid outbreaks from spreading. More are planning to close next week.

Diana Lambert

Commentary

September 2, 2021

Forget ‘learning loss'; focus on what we’ve learned during the pandemic

Focusing only on "learning loss" rather than all the ways students and teachers have grown can lead us into deficit-thinking and lowered expectations for our students.