The largest public schools in the Fresno area have said they are not applying for waivers to open schools in August, but some private schools and smaller public schools will move forward with the option.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced July 17 that public and private K-12 school campuses in the state could not reopen until their counties have been off the coronavirus watchlist for 14 days.

Most of Central and Southern California has been on the monitoring list as the state leads the nation in the number of confirmed cases. Hospitals such as Community Regional Medical Center are nearing capacity.

A few rural public schools have already indicated that they will fill out a waiver, according to Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, Jim Yovino.

Big Creek School, north of Shaver Lake, is one. Hume Lake Charter School, outside of Kings Canyon National Park, also indicated it would submit to reopen its campuses.

“In Fresno County, I have school districts that have 73,000 students,” Yovino said, “and I have some school districts like Big Creek, who have 46 kids, and they have no positive cases.”

Yovino said health department officials are preparing criteria that schools would have to meet for approval. He said it wouldn’t be much different from what Newsom asks for, such as a decline in positive cases and hospitalizations.

“They (the health department) were very clear on a call last Thursday that until those numbers go down, the likelihood of them approving any waivers is not good.”

According to spokesperson Sonia Brar, the Fresno County Department of Public Health had not received any waivers as of Monday.

Can Fresno-area private schools reopen amid COVID-19?

Before submitting a waiver, superintendents must consult with labor, parent, and community organizations. Since private schools typically do not have teachers unions, it may be easier to request than it would be for public schools.

Several Catholic schools run under the Diocese of Fresno will begin the year with online instruction. But there is a “remote possibility” for in-person teaching, said Mona Faulkner, the superintendent of Catholic Schools.

Faulkner “has begun the process of applying to the state for a waiver from each of the counties in which we have schools so that our schools might be able to teach with students on campus,” she said.

The Diocese of Fresno runs 19 elementary schools, from Merced to Porterville, Atwater and Los Banos. It also runs San Joaquin Memorial High School, which would not be eligible for the waiver.

Rev. Joseph V. Brennan, who took over the Diocese in March 2019, has required the Diocesan Reopening Guidelines for Catholic Schools and Preschools to be set at even higher standards than those required by the state or the Centers for Disease Control, Faulkner said.

“It is the hope of the Diocese that those guidelines will help in a successful effort to secure waivers and that all Catholic schools will open soon,” she said.

Fresno Christian Schools, which serves kindergarten through 12th grade, is pushing its opening date to Sept. 8 in hopes of getting off the state watch list and opening in-person, according to Superintendent Jeremy L. Brown.

“We’re exploring every option to be obedient to the authorities, while also pursuing the goals and the objectives that God has given us here for at Fresno Christian Schools,” Brown said. “A delayed start gives us time to prepare for an opening in-person, and it also gives more time for Fresno County to get off the COVID-19 watch list.”

Brown said the extra time would also be used to explore “legal options” and consult with other private schools.

“If by chance, we’re not able to be back in person on Sept. 8, we’ll be taking this time for the delayed start to further refine and enhance our alternative learning model,” he said.

Immanuel Schools, which runs a private Christian elementary, middle, and high school in Reedley, said it was not publicly commenting on its reopening plans. The high school held an in-person graduation in May, as most schools shifted to virtual or drive-up graduations.

Private schools accounted for 7.4% of total school enrollment in California for the 2015-16 school year, according to the most recent data from the California Department of Education.

Differing views on COVID-19 effects on children

The option to open elementary schools is based on findings that children under 12 are less likely to spread the coronavirus, and are less at risk of hospitalization or death, according to the Santa Clara Department of Public Health, who first released a statement about the waivers last week, Ed Source reported.

Elementary-age children are also more susceptible to the effects of being out of school, such as child abuse, neglect, and mental illnesses, the health department said.

Yet, the science behind how much COVID-19 affects children is still up for debate.

The Centers for Disease Control said children are not at higher risk than adults, and adults have made up a majority of COVID-19 cases.

But Valley Children’s Hospital doctors said Thursday that of the more than 413,000 positive cases of COVID-19 in the state, children younger than 18 make up about 8.7%. In the Central Valley, an even higher percentage of the cases that have tested positive are children, about 12%.

At Valley Children’s, 6,473 children have been tested, and 8% came back positive through Wednesday. Of those sick children, 69 have had to be hospitalized.

“When we see a dialogue and a narrative that is focused on how small the risk is numerically to children, it is particularly objectionable,” said Valley Children’s CEO Todd Suntrapak.

Fresno, Central, and Clovis Unified have said they will not submit waivers to reopen their elementary schools.

Clovis Unified administrators said it wasn’t likely that larger, urban schools would be approved.

“This is going to be one-off cases, maybe some small elementary schools that are very isolated, that haven’t had cases; that are very low on their case count, that can be able to reopen,” Barry Jager, the district’s associate superintendent of Human Resources and Employee Relations, said last week.

“For us, we have, right now, no intention of submitting a waiver, and I believe even if we did try to submit a waiver, it would not get approved.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 12:26 PM.