It was a disappointing outcome for the superintendent of Catholic education when Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties are on the state COVID-19 monitor list.
“These are the counties we serve and public health conditions are what is preventing us from moving forward right now,” said Paul Escala, senior director of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which encompasses 265 Catholic schools.
That’s because schools located in counties that are on the state Monitoring List will be allowed to open for in-person instruction only after they have come off the list for 14 consecutive days, according to a statement online.
Superintendent Escala said he’d hoped to open the doors of his schools for in-person classes full time in the fall. Instead, students will be limited to remote learning.
“It indicates that the state sees the K through 12 sector as non-essential,” Escala told Southern California Record. “When you reopen bars and dining facilities first, it appears that children come last.”
In addition to positivity rates, hospitalizations and hospital capacity are among the metrics the state of California is using to determine if a County is on or off the monitor list. While they are on the monitor list, only distance or e-learning is permitted.
“We don't have any illusions about distance learning,” said Troy Flint, senior director of communications and public information officer for the California School Boards Association. “It's not an appropriate substitute for what happens in the classroom but in this situation where we're prioritizing health and safety, we have to make the best of it.”
The state has experienced a spike in coronavirus cases and deaths recently. In the last 14 days, 124,108 news cases were reported of 413,576 statewide and 1,308 new deaths for a total of 7,870, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.
“What we are now doing is amplifying our preparation and training for distance learning,” Escala said in an interview. “We're confident in the capability of our schools, our teachers, our community and families to rise to the occasion.”
Hope for on-campus learning is not completely lost, however. Superintendent Escala is discussing with state and county public health officials the possibility of a waiver for elementary schools.
“Some health departments weren't even aware of a waiver process when the governor made his announcement on Friday, July 17,” he said. “We're learning more about it. Our families are reading these documents as well and asking us to apply for waivers.”
In the meantime, Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Roseville) said he is aware of legal challenges that are already in the works based on constitutionality.
For example, the Center for American Liberty sued the state in the Central District of California on July 21 for allegedly barring most students from receiving a basic education.
“There's certainly an argument that Gov. Newsom is denying students the fundamental right to an education, which is guaranteed under the California constitution,” Kiley told the Southern California Record. “It's going to cause incredible harm to millions of kids.”
More than 90% of California students reside in one of the 35 counties that are on the state watch list due to concerning rates of COVID-19, according to Flint and media reports.
“We don't fully know the implications of COVID-19 and how it's transmitted to, or spread by students,” Flint told the Southern California Record. “Certainly teachers, being older, are at greater risk. About a third of our teachers are 50 and older and let's not forget other school staff like janitors, food service workers and bus drivers. These are people who are in high contact positions. We need to have concern for them as well as parents.”
Even if schools in counties that improve are removed from the watch list and permitted to open their school building doors, there are new, additional requirements and expenses related to reducing the spread of COVID-19 infection based on Gov. Newsom’s order.
“Much of education funding rests on the hope that additional relief will arrive from the federal government, which is far from guaranteed,” Flint said. “If federal funding does not arrive, it will trigger steep cuts, which will be devastating. Districts are already dealing with a budget that has a lot of deferrals in it, which is creating cash flow management issues.”
The new and additional requirements that schools face upon re-opening their buildings to students, teachers and support staff are listed in the COVID-19 Industry Guidance for Schools and School Based Programs.
They include installing sanitizing stations, social distancing in classrooms and school buses, smaller class sizes and face covering.
“Social distance requirements limit the number of students in a class, which means schools need more classrooms to accommodate students, more facility space and more teachers to teach those classes,” Flint said. “For transportation, if a district is only putting one or two students in a row on a bus, they will need more buses and to run more routes with fewer students on each bus, which means hiring more drivers. Schools will need multiple sanitation stations. They will need to deep clean and multiple times between classes. There's an expense related to all of it.”