Students arrive to Fresno County private school again despite state, county orders
Students arrived to the Immanuel Schools campus on Friday morning in apparent anticipation of a second day of in-person instruction.
The K-12 school opened for the school year Thursday despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order that schools in counties that remain on the state watch list due to the coronavirus pandemic not reopen their campuses for instruction.
The Fresno County Department of Public Health on Thursday also ordered the private, Mennonite-faith school to close.
The bell schedule on campus Friday morning reminded students and staff that classes start at 8 a.m.
Vehicles began pulling into the parking lot at 7:11 a.m. Some vehicles contained children, and most occupants were wearing blue shirts to match one of the school’s primary colors.
One parent told a Bee reporter: “Our students, our choice.”
A faculty member was positioned at one building and two school buses were parked in front.
Students were having their temperatures checked and most weren’t wearing masks.
In a statement on Thursday, the school said keeping pupils off campus is “detrimental to students’ academic, physical, emotional, and spiritual development.”
Newsom on Friday addressed the situation during his daily remarks:
“I’m disappointed, obviously,” the governor said. “They’re not abiding by their local health officer, whose purpose is simply to keep people healthy and keep safe, not only kids, but the leadership of that school and others. The system we set up was designed exactly as it’s now operating. The local health officer is doing the right thing to the extent that this school unfortunately is choosing not to model good behavior in doing the right thing.
“I’m not trying to flex any muscle here. All I’m trying is to encourage people to stay safe and stay healthy because my absolute goal is one I think the leaders in the school share: that is to keep our kids safe and keep them educated.”
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 7:53 AM.
