California lawmakers reach $6.5 billion deal to open schools

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — After weeks of tense negotiations, California’s legislative leaders agreed Thursday on a $6.5 billion proposal aimed at getting students back in classrooms this spring following months of closures because of the pandemic.

The “Safe and Open Schools Plan” gives schools additional time and money for reopening than was included in a proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom. That plan, announced in December, provided $2 billion and called for schools to resume classroom instruction in February. It was heavily criticized by school officials.

The governor said last week that a deal with lawmakers on revising his plan was imminent, but this week described negotiations as “stubborn.” He did not sign off on the final legislative plan and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

The legislative plan would not force schools to reopen but would provide more funding to those that do. Assemblyman Phil Ting, a San Francisco Democrat who chairs the Budget Committee, said lawmakers hope to approve the legislation as soon as Monday.

Should Newsom veto the plan, the Legislature would need two-thirds of both chambers to override. The last time that happened was 1979.

“Parents like myself have been watching their kids on Zoom for the last year and the learning loss is absolutely staggering. So we believe this is the right plan to encourage the most schools to open up,” Ting said in a Zoom call with reporters.

The legislative plan emerged in the midst of a rapid decline of coronavirus cases in California. Health officials in Los Angeles County, the state’s largest with 10 million residents, announced earlier this week that cases have fallen enough there that all districts could resume classroom instruction if they choose.

One of those districts, Long Beach Unified, the state’s fourth- largest with 70,000 students, said Thursday it plans to resume some in-person instruction for elementary grades on March 29. If case levels continue to drop it would bring grades 6-12 back to classrooms in April.

The legislative plan would allocate $6.5 billion in state funds to schools, including $2 billion for reopening costs this academic year and $4.5 billion that schools can use until next fall to extend the instructional school year, increase the school day or other expenses to catch up on learning lost from nearly a year of distance learning. Schools will also have access to an additional $6 billion in federal funds, the bill says.

To get the money, school districts must offer in-person instruction by April 15 to “vulnerable” students in elementary schools, including English learners, homeless students, those without computers and foster children.

The proposal also requires schools that receive the money to reopen for all students in grades TK-6 when case rates in their counties drop below 7 per 100,0000 — and to all vulnerable student groups in higher grades.