State budget confirms schools will open Aug. 3

School will begin on Aug. 3 as initially planned, the Lodi Unified School District announced late Tuesday.

Last week, the district’s Board of Education discussed the possibility of having students return to campus full-time on Aug. 24, dependent on receiving approval from the state.

In Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget, which he signed Monday night, the flexibility to start later in the year was not approved.

In a message to parents Tuesday afternoon, superintendent Cathy Nichols Washer said any delay in the 2020-21 school year would require days to be made up another time before May.

All students will be returning to their school sites unless they have signed up for distance learning at www.lodiusd.net/parents/digital-learning.

When school begins, school staff will wear face coverings — both cloth and shields — and temperature checks will be administered on site. Protocols will be developed by staff at each campus.

Hand-washing stations will be placed at various locations at each school, and hand sanitizer will be provided in areas where soap and water is not readily available.

Staff will conduct frequent disinfecting of classrooms, and all school sites will develop health and safety plans for specific school procedures.

In addition to a regular start date, the district announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday that it will not be able to host in-person graduations for the Class of 2020.

“Current health orders do not allow for us to hold this type of event in San Joaquin County and in order to adequately prepare for an in-person graduation, we were committed to a final decision by June 30,” the post read. “Please know that this is not what we wanted for our Class of 2020 and we understand the disappointment this brings. We thank our schools and communities for their efforts to celebrate high school graduates in alternative ways and wish all of our graduates the very best.”