Q&A on school reopenings: What you need to know about California’s COVID plan
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have reached a deal tying public schools’ funding to an April 1 deadline to reopen campuses from coronavirus restrictions.
The state won’t mandate a return to the classroom by that date, but districts will lose out on percentages of funding within the $6.6 billion budget package for each school day they fail to meet certain criteria for offering in-person instruction, starting April 1.
Here’s what you need to know.
What is the reopening plan? How does it work?
The $6.6 billion package, officially Assembly Bill 86, includes $4.6 billion for “expanded learning opportunities” such as tutoring and mental health services to help students recover from a long gap in in-person learning.
The remaining $2 billion will be apportioned to districts, as well as other educational agencies such as charter schools, for purposes of COVID-19 safety measures, such as personal protective equipment, testing and ventilation upgrades.
To incentivize schools to meet the deadline, AB 86 will dock 1% of the latter funding from a district for every school day on its academic calendar from April 1 to May 15 that it does not provide in-person instruction in accordance with the state’s guidelines.
If a district doesn’t provide on-campus learning on or before May 15, it will forfeit all of its funding from the $2 billion apportionment.
What are the rules for districts?
All public schools in the state will be required to open for kindergarten through second grade as well as “high-needs students” to receive full funding, according to a statement from the governor’s office summarizing the plan.
Additionally, schools and districts in counties that have advanced out of the “purple” tier within the state’s reopening framework and into the looser red, orange or yellow tiers will be required “to offer in-person instruction to all students in all elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade.”
Can some students continue distance learning?
Yes.
AB 86 states that schools and districts must offer in-person learning to be eligible for the new funding, but it also “authorizes these agencies to offer distance learning.”
Additionally, the reopening plan states that districts may use up to 15% of their apportionment from the other fund — the one totaling $4.6 billion statewide — “to increase or improve services for pupils participating in distance learning or to support activities intended to prepare a local educational agency for in-person instruction” before the in-person return actually happens.
What about schools returning on a hybrid schedule?
Districts that are bringing back students in the qualifying grade levels fewer than five days a week, using a “hybrid” schedule that mixes in-person learning and distance learning, are required within AB 86 to demonstrate that they are offering in-person instruction “to the greatest extent possible,” the bill reads.
Starting March 15, every K-12 school district, county education office and charter school must submit a form to the California Department of Public Health twice a month that includes reporting the total number of pupils enrolled in each school and a breakdown of how many are learning full-time in person, how many are participating in distance learning and how many are learning on a hybrid basis.
Are there vaccination requirements for teachers?
No, AB 86 makes clear that California’s school reopening plan does not include vaccination of school staff as a prerequisite for districts reopening.
However, the bill formalizes the requirement that 10% of the state’s first-dose allocations of the COVID-19 vaccine be offered “to childcare and K-12 education sector staff.”
Teachers unions across the state have repeatedly said that they would only support a return to campus once vaccines were widely available to educators.
California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd issued a statement Monday afternoon saying he supports the plan announced by Newsom and legislative leaders.
“It recognizes community transmission rates and the importance of prioritizing educators for the COVID-19 vaccine before reopening for in-person instruction,” Boyd wrote. “We commend the governor and the Legislature for recognizing those concerns.
Is my county in the purple tier?
Counties’ tier levels are assigned weekly on Tuesdays. As of last week, 47 of California’s 58 counties remained in the purple tier.
The 11 that are in looser tiers are: Alpine, Del Norte, Humboldt, Marin, Mariposa, Plumas, San Mateo, Shasta, Sierra, Trinity and Yolo counties.
Newsom suggested during a Monday news conference announcing the budget deal that seven additional counties will be promoted from the purple tier to the red tier on Tuesday. According to the state health department, the seven that are eligible for that move are: El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara.
Newsom said “many” more could also move out of the purple tier next week.
Schools that have already reopened or whose school boards set a reopening date before the end of March will not face a testing requirement. Schools that set a reopening date after the end-of-March deadline will need to conduct regular testing of asymptomatic students and staff if they are in the purple tier.
Once their county improves out of the purple tier, districts are not required to continue asymptomatic testing.
What else is in the bill?
AB 86 codifies the requirement that at least 10% of vaccine supply be set aside for education workers.
The bill also sets aside $25 million for the “State Safe Schools Team,” which is charged with providing assistance to schools and districts, and conducting “a safety review of any school with two or more COVID-19 outbreaks.”
Those safety reviews, like the data reporting mandate, would begin March 15.
This story was originally published March 1, 2021 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Q&A on school reopenings: What you need to know about California’s COVID plan."
