Push to reopen schools in California slams up against raging COVID-19 surge

LOS ANGELES — With 1 in 3 students testing positive for the coronavirus in some Los Angeles neighborhoods, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to reopen campuses is clashing with the reality of a raging pandemic as many school districts opt for January shutdowns and superintendents call for clearer guidance on when it will be safe to unlock their campus doors.

The swift-moving developments come one week after Newsom announced financial help — totaling $2 billion — that would go to elementary schools that reopen as early as next month and later to schools serving older students. Newsom cited the widely acknowledged harms of learning loss and social isolation — especially for Black and Latino students from low-income families — after in-person instruction shut down nearly 10 months ago across the state.

Superintendents from seven of the state’s largest school districts on Wednesday called on Newsom to set a clear and mandated state standard for reopening campuses. They also faulted Newsom’s plan for seeming to rely on funds that would otherwise go toward important existing education programs.

“Our schools stand ready to resume in-person instruction as soon as health conditions are safe and appropriate. But we cannot do it alone,” superintendents from Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Fresno and Sacramento wrote in the letter. “Despite heroic efforts by students, teachers and families, it will take a coordinated effort by all in state and local government to reopen classrooms.”

Amid an unprecedented surge of coronavirus infections that has overwhelmed hospitals — and is widely expected to worsen in coming weeks — many districts, including those in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Claremont, have moved to keep campuses closed for the near future.

“Extraordinarily high case counts of COVID are the barrier to opening schools in the Los Angeles area, and we encourage the governor, the Legislature, state and local authorities to make that job one,” said L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner. “Because until the case counts are within any reasonable standard … it’s not possible for schools in Los Angeles to be open, and that’s troubling for all of us.”

L.A. Unified contributed an alarming data point in the letter: Nearly 1 in 3 asymptomatic students from some lower-income communities tested positive for the coronavirus during the week of Dec. 14. At the time of the test, the children reported feeling no effects of COVID-19 — but they had come to a district-operated site, typically with family members, for a coronavirus test. Asymptomatic carriers can spread the disease to others and might later develop symptoms.

The student positivity rate was 32% in the Maywood, Bell and Cudahy communities, where families have a median income of about $37,000, according to district data, and 25% in Mid-City, where the median income is about $41,000. In contrast, the rate was 4.3% in Venice, with a median income of about $73,000, and 7.1% in the Woodland Hills, West Hills and Tarzana area, with a median income of about $81,000.

Even in higher-income areas, the rate of positive tests among students has spiked, reflecting trends in the wider community. In these conditions, some experts have warned that schools, even if they are operating safely, would run the risk of frequent disruptions — a campus could have to shut down if it has three cases over a 14day period.

Beutner said it’s the role of state officials and local health departments to do whatever is necessary to bring down community COVID levels.

Under Newsom’s plan — which is sparse in important details — in the best-case scenario, large numbers of elementary schools across California would open as early as mid-February for students in kindergarten through second grade, with the remainder of elementary students returning as early as March. The governor did not announce a time frame for older students.