Update: Newsom says new school plan doesn’t move ‘fast enough’ in bringing kids on campus

Aiming to break a stalemate that has kept many California schools closed this year, leading Democrats in the Legislature on Thursday unveiled their own plan to start in-class instruction by mid-April.

Senate Bill 86, known as the “Safe and Open Schools Plan,” follows many of the same reopening tenets laid out by Gov. Gavin Newsom at the start of the year, with some adjustments that would have classrooms reopen later than he wanted.

The plan would send the state’s most vulnerable students back to in-person instruction by mid-April at the latest, and require county public health departments to make COVID-19 vaccines available to onsite teachers and staff.

The bill allocates nearly $6.6 billion in state funds to schools, $2 billion of which must be used to reopen. Schools will also have access to an additional $6 billion in federal funds.

Lawmakers said they hope to pass the bill as soon as Monday.

Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco and chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, said Thursday in a call with reporters that the April timeframe fit within President Joe Biden’s reopening goals and gave schools enough time to draft plans and come to agreements with labor unions.

“The timeframe...also appeared to fit within when districts could get bargaining done for the COVID health and safety plans, to make sure that discussions were happening with all the different school employees, as well as being able to give them enough time to have the proper PPE, do whatever they needed to do with the various facilities as students, teachers and staff were coming back,” he said.

Newsom had originally set a goal of putting students back in classrooms by this month, but schools and labor unions balked at the short turnaround time.

Newsom late Thursday said he wanted lawmakers to move faster to open schools.

“While the Legislature’s proposal represents a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough or fast enough. I look forward to building on the growing momentum to get our schools open and continuing discussions with the Legislature to get our kids back in school as safely and quickly as possible,” he said in a written statement.

Earlier this week, while visiting a vaccine distribution site, Newsom described negotiations as “stubborn.”

The proposal laid out by lawmakers on Thursday would require all schools to offer optional in-person instruction to vulnerable groups of students in K-12 by April 15, including youth, homeless students, English learners, those without access to distance learning tools, and those at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Furthermore, by April 15, schools in counties with fewer than seven new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents — red tier or better — would be required to offer in-person instruction to all students in grades K-6 under the proposal.

Schools can open before that date, should local health conditions allow, lawmakers said, but if they choose not to open by April, they forfeit their share of state funds. Schools that reopen must continue to allow families to choose distance learning, should they want.

Regardless of funding, all California schools would have to complete COVID-19 school safety plans no later than April 1, with plans to meet state health guidelines. Schools that have already opened or have adopted plans for reopening may proceed with those, but standards around testing, masking and other environmental requirements will be added to their plans.

In order to receive reopening funds, school districts must submit a completed COVID-19 safety plan to its county office of education, and must show how it will follow the state’s COVID-19 School Guidance Checklist, which prescribes standards for testing, social distancing, masks and other measures.

The bill also keeps labor groups in the mix by requiring schools to reach collective bargaining agreements with unions by April 1. Schools must provide a copy of the agreements to their county office of education showing the employees support the COVID-19 school safety plan.

Vaccines for teachers have been a major sticking point in negotiations over school reopening. The powerful California Teachers Association has said for months that educators need vaccines before returning to school campuses.

Even as Newsom has shifted the state’s vaccine distribution schedule to inoculate teachers sooner, he has expressed frustration with the demands, and said the state is unlikely to be able to vaccinate all teachers before the end of the spring semester.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the CTA said the organization was still going through the bill, but was appreciative of several measures, including the extended timeline to come up with a reopening plan and flexibility for parents and local leaders.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said California’s students need to get back in the classroom, but there is no easy solution to getting them there in the midst of the pandemic.

“These bills move us closer, and build on the governor’s framework based on feedback that we’ve heard from parents, students, and school employees, including teachers,” Atkins said in a statement. “They keep the conversation going, both in the Legislature and with the governor.”

“We all share the same goal—to get students back into school safely,” she added. “We need to do all we can to get campuses open safely, and keep them open.”

This story was originally published February 18, 2021 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Update: Newsom says new school plan doesn’t move ‘fast enough’ in bringing kids on campus."