Arizona gov. rejects school ‘quarantine’

PHOENIX — Despite the state’s surge of coronavirus cases, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Saturday rejected the state’s top education official’s call for him to order public schools to use only distance learning for the next two weeks unless they have waivers from health officials.

“Given the severity of our state’s situation and the virus’s trajectory after the holiday period,” schools need a “twoweek quarantine period” for education leaders and local officials to use local health data “to decide the appropriate instruction model for their communities,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman said in a Twitter thread.

Hoffman called for the twoweek “quarantine period” for schools after the Department of Health Services on Saturday — the second day of the new year — reported nearly 8,900 additional known COVID-19 cases, giving the state a two-day pandemic high for new cases.

However, Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin said the governor “will not be considering this request or issuing this kind of mandate. This is a local decision. The online option is already available, and the governor has repeatedly made his preference clear: Kids have already lost out on a lot of learning, and he wants schools opened, safely.”

Ducey, a Republican, and Hoffman, a Democrat, were aligned last spring when he ordered schools closed because of the coronavirus, but she voiced reservations during the fall as he urged schools to provide in-person learning.

Guidelines issued by Ducey’s administration during the fall let students continue with in-person classes beyond what earlier guidance would have recommended.

Many Arizona school districts in recent months have provided hybrid learning that includes both distanced and in-person instruction, while others either were already on remote learning or returning to it this month.

Many schools are set to resume classes in the coming week after the winter holidays.