Teacher vaccination a main driver in reopening schools
Lawmakers are expected Thursday to approve a $6.6 billion bill aimed at enticing more public schools to reopen this spring, but it doesn’t appear to be driving districts around the state to bring kids back earlier than they had already planned.
While the bill offers financial incentives to reopen by the end of March, with decreasing amounts offered until May 15, several districts say their reopening timelines instead depend on two factors: teacher vaccinations and falling local infection rates. Both of those were underway before Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders announced their compromise legislation Monday, and many districts had already hammered out agreements with teachers’ unions that would be difficult to change.
“The pace of vaccinations for educators is definitely facilitating more productive conversations with local labor partners,” said Edgar S. Zazueta, senior director of policy and governmental relations for the Association of California School Administrators.
“The increase in vaccinations coupled with lower COVID transmission rates around the state was a major catalyst for the momentum for in-person instruction prior to the legislative discussions.”
The scene playing out in the Campbell Union High School District — where parents clamoring for schools to reopen and teachers stressing their need to be vaccinated will stage competing rallies Thursday afternoon ahead of a school board meeting — illustrates the challenges.
“Vaccinating educators is a critical factor in making campuses safe to open for in-person learning,” said Kim McCarthy, president of the Campbell High School Teachers Association. Nick Cortez, the association’s vice president, said the money in the reopening bill can’t quickly resolve their current safety concerns, and teachers are just starting to get vaccinated now, a twoshot process that will take six weeks.
“They’re trying to push the reopening thinking putting more money into it is going to solve it,” Cortez said.
“We have many classrooms with no windows. Ventilation continues to be an issue. Money can’t fix that by April 1.”
Parent groups have blasted the legislation for lacking a mandate to return kids to classrooms now, which health authorities say can be done safely before teachers are vaccinated. The parents argue the bill’s incentives won’t reopen schools fast and fully enough, especially at higher grades.
“I’ve not heard from a single school district parent that the bill will make a difference in terms of their timing to reopen,” said Megan Bacigalupi, a parent advocate in Oakland Unified with Open Schools CA. Her district wants to reopen some grades this month, but has yet to reach a labor deal with teachers. “When I look at that bill, I don’t see anything that’s going to compel any action.”
To be sure, Newsom, the target of a recall drive that has gained momentum with parents frustrated over closed schools, has been taking steps to help return kids to classrooms.