Newsom: Schools in watch-list counties cannot reopen in person

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Friday that public and private schools in counties on the state’s coronavirus watch list — including currently, Santa Clara County and likely soon, San Mateo County — cannot reopen for in-person instruction until they’ve been off the list for 14 days.

This means that schools in these counties must plan for full distance learning in the fall, and those that had hoped to reopen their campuses, including Palo Alto Unified, must switch gears. Counties on the watch list have not met the state’s benchmarks for reopening, including positive case rates, hospitalizations and capacity.

Counties not being monitored by the state can decide locally in partnership with local health leaders whether to offer in-person instruction, Newsom said.

San Mateo County Health Chief Louise Rogers said Friday that the county is not currently on the state’s watch list but “likely” will be soon, given the county’s case rate of 101.2 cases per 100,000 in the population (a 14-day rolling average).

The Mountain View Los Altos High School District had already planned to start the school year long-distance, as of a unanimous vote by the school board July 16.

The district was reviewing documents from Newsom’s office and that the state’s announcement appears to be “very much in line with our current plan,” according to Superintendent Nellie Meyer

“The guidance on reopening and closing was new and very helpful,” she said, noting that the district would be looking closely at the proposed criteria for reopening.

The district’s reopening plans approved July 16 lay out a goal to reevaluate public health guidelines every four to six weeks to see when limited in-person programs could be conducted. Teachers are dedicating many hours this summer to professional training to improve their online teaching skills, and the district plans to adopt Canvas, an online learning management platform that organizes grades, information and assignments.

Starting in-person instruction for students enrolled in special education programs, when safe, would be a top priority, Meyer said.

“We are seeing what kinds of protective measures we need to take,” she added.

The district is also working through plans to bring some students back to campus for additional check-ins and support, especially for students who are English language learners, who were not engaged in distance learning in the spring. The district also wants to be able to provide socially distanced locations for studying or taking tests on campus for students who may not have a quiet place at home to study, or have difficulty working at home.

But if Santa Clara County remains on the state’s watch list, those opportunities may be limited.

The question of what, if any, sports might be able to happen in the fall is also still up in the air, Meyer said. Discussions have raised the possibility of bringing back lower-contact sports like tennis, track or swimming before higher contact ones like football, but the district is still waiting for additional guidance.

Dave Campbell, president of the District Teachers Union (DTA) at MVLA, said that the union was heavily involved with the decision to start out the school year with distance learning.

“I really think if it’s not safe for all, it’s not safe for any,” he said, noting that he wants to see clear thresholds in place that can help the district maintain safety for teachers as well as students. “We’ve all seen the effects of getting infected by the coronavirus and it’s not good,” he said.

Ask any teacher, he said, and they’ll say, “I would rather be in the classroom with students, but I also don’t want to die.”

The adaptations that would have to take place within the classroom to comply with public health guidelines – things like installing plexiglass, asking those present to wear face shields and constantly maintaining 6 feet of space between others – could produce worse learning outcomes than distance learning, he said.

In his Spanish classes, he said, it’s easy to use Zoom to set up student discussions by putting groups of students into virtual breakout rooms. In an in-person classroom that follows social distancing guidelines, there simply wouldn’t be enough classroom space to enable that same type of small group work, he said.

High school students don’t have a fully developed frontal lobe, which is the part of the brain that is critical for decision-making, he said. “They’re going to make poor decisions because they’re kids.”

They’re at the part of their lives where it’s natural to push boundaries. Mandating they stay 6 feet apart from other kids at all times? “There’s no way that’s going to happen,” he said.

In the face of the pandemic’s life-or-death stakes, he said, a semester or a year spent navigating the challenges of distance learning is preferable to somebody potentially dying.

“Can you imagine being a student that came to school, didn’t know you had coronavirus and passed it to a teacher, and caused that teacher to die? How do you recover from that? Or vice versa – a teacher that caused a child to die?”

Palo Alto Unified Superintendent Don Austin sent a letter to staff and families on Friday afternoon confirming that the district will not reopen its elementary schools in August as planned but instead will move to full distance learning for all students.

In a press conference, Newsom cited the rise in coronavirus cases statewide as a driving force for the new mandate for reopening schools. As of July 16, California has just over 366,000 confirmed cases, with 9,986 new confirmed cases Thursday. Of California’s 58 counties, 32 are on the watch list.

“We all prefer in-classroom instruction for all the obvious reasons … but only, only if it can be done safely,” Newsom said. “Safety is foundational and safety will ultimately make the determination of how we go about educating our kids.”

District superintendents can, however, in consultation with labor unions, parents and community organizations, seek a waiver from their local health officers to allow elementary schools to reopen for in-person instruction, the state said. Health officers must consider local data and consult with the California Department of Public Health when reviewing the waiver requests.

Newsom also announced new criteria to prevent the spread of the coronavirus for schools that are allowed to reopen. Masks will be required for all staff and students in third grade and above (unless they’re exempt), and they will be “strongly encouraged” for younger students. Schools should provide masks to students who don’t have them and must “exclude” students who refuse to wear masks, the state’s new guidance reads.

Staff will be required to keep 6 feet of distance between themselves and their students, while students should maintain 6 feet from one another “as practicable.” The school day should start with temperature and symptom checks, Newsom said. The state also will require regular testing of all teachers and staff: 25% of staff should be tested every two weeks, or 50% every month, to rotate testing of all staff over time.

Newsom emphasized the importance of the health and safety of teachers and staff.

“We’re not just talking about our children. We’re also talking about those we entrust our children with when we drop them off at school as well and their health and safety. It’s an ecosystem, our public education system. We are responsible to address the needs of that ecosystem,” he said.

If a school or school district resumes in-person instruction, but its county is later placed on the monitoring list, schools should begin testing staff or increase the frequency of testing. They are not, however, required to close, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Acknowledging that distance learning failed to meet the needs of many students in the spring, Newsom said the state expects schools to offer “rigorous” distance learning this fall. Beyond requiring daily, live interaction between teachers and students; providing devices and “challenging assignments equivalent to in-person classes,” Newsom didn’t provide further detail on how the state defines “rigorous.”

He noted that the state has invested $5.3 billion to help schools address learning loss and technology needs, as well as to purchase additional personal protective equipment.

“We want to do our best to create some sense of equivalency with the obvious constraints that is distance learning,” he said.

Newsom also outlined criteria for closing schools in the event of confirmed cases among students or staff. Schools should first consult with their local public health officer, Newsom said. A classroom cohort should be sent home if there is a confirmed case, and other exposed students and staff should be quarantined for 14 days. An entire school should close when multiple cohorts have cases or more than 5% of a school tests positive for the coronavirus.

A school district must shutter if 25% of their schools have closed within a 14-day period, after which time school districts may reopen with the approval of the local public health officer.

The state will soon release guidelines for reopening universities and community colleges, Newsom said.

The state’s new guidance for reopening schools is available here.

State guidance on schools

Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.