On Dec. 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced the “Safe Schools For All” plan to help mainly elementary schools reopen starting in February. $2 billion is being put into the plan, and thousands of elementary schools already have waivers allowing them to return to in-person learning, including those in the Hillsborough City School District.
“The three K-5 schools and the superintendent and our board of trustees filed and were granted a waiver [in October] to reopen our schools,” said North Elementary School Principal Heidi Felt. “We each created a measured, sequential return to school, so rather than having all kids back all at once, we [have] certain grades take turns to come on campus each week. We also have weekly COVID-19 testing of our staff and students, so that’s been reassuring for our teachers who have felt anxious.”
Newsom notes that learning virtually is much more difficult for younger students — a key reason why his plan will focus on them first. Felt also believes it’s beneficial for elementary schools to reopen sooner.
“There are very few cases in Hillsborough in which our youngest K-5 students have given COVID-19 to anyone,” Felt said. “It’s most common for adults to transmit COVID-19 to each other, and that’s really the biggest concern and risk. The great majority of students do better in in-person school than distance learning with their teachers, classmates and auxiliary staff. School is about developing the whole child and not just academics, so it’s really important for children to learn social, emotional and physical skills.”
Assessment data from NWEA, a Portland-based nonprofit, show test scores from about 4.4 million elementary and middle school students reveal a nationwide drop in math performance. According to the Washington Post in October 2020, there also has been a 22% decrease in the amount of kindergartners meeting literary benchmarks in the District of Columbia, making it difficult for elementary schools to proceed with their virtual agenda.
Newsom’s plan will require that all teachers and students get tested for COVID-19 weekly and schools report cases to local health departments. Additionally, Dr. Naomi Bardach, a pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, will be leading a team on school visits to educate students and teachers on preventing outbreaks. School districts returning to in-person instruction would also receive between $450 and $700 per student.
For a public school to reopen, its respective county must be within the red tier classification, as defined by Newsom’s “Blueprint for a Safer Economy.” However, most counties across the state, including San Mateo, remain in the purple tier, which requires all schools without a waiver to remain closed.
Despite the possible benefits of reopening, some, including elementary school parent Brent Reynolds, have reservations about Newsom’s plan.
“My 11-year-old is having trouble keeping focus and is constantly missing assignments,” Reynolds said. “[Students] are also missing out on quite a bit of social development by being stuck at home [like] playing sports, attending dances and socializing with friends in person. [However] I don’t believe reopening during the greatest surge of the virus to date is a good idea. The greatest drawback [of the plan] would be if there is a virus outbreak in the schools causing sickness and death throughout the community.”
Regardless of the reopening concerns, the plan has run into other problems. Some school districts feel that the Feb. 1 deadline to apply for financial incentives for reopening was too early. Furthermore, the California State Legislature has not approved the $2 billion that would be offered to schools following up with Newsom’s plan for meeting required conditions.
Some organizations like the California School Boards Association have recommended that Newsom make some modifications to key components in his plan, such as requiring that the state pay for testing expenses and preventing labor unions from the final decision on safety protocols. The CSBA believes that these measures are crucial in order for the “Safe Schools for All ‘’ plan to be feasible.
Additionally, some school officials think that the dates of reopening following a surge in cases during the holidays are unrealistic given that January has been the deadliest mouth of the pandemic thus far for California with 14,940 people losing their lives and cases reaching a record of more than 40,000 cases per day. But Newsom, who has been criticized for strict stay-at-home orders and is facing calls for a recall election, thinks the plan is important to pursue.
As the spring semester continues, many schools remain undecided what their decision on reopening will be and the fate of Newsom’s plan remains unclear.
