REOPENING PLAN PROVIDES LITTLE ‘CERTAINTY’

The question of whether and when schools should safely reopen during the pandemic is deeply personal and divisive because it’s about families and their health and security. But it’s also open and shut to those who see schools, especially in other nations, reopen safely and to those who hear pediatricians warn of the enormous toll of stay-at-home orders on the health of children. Taking all factors into account, it’s incredible that so many school employees, parents and others have remained resistant for so long despite scientific research on returning, declining case rates and increasing vaccinations.

Given this resistance, it is easy to see San Diego

Unified’s announcement that it hopes to launch

“hybrid” instruction — an unspecified mix of inperson and online — on April 12 as either genuine progress or as political theater. And it’s hard to believe anyone would suggest the district has provided

“a clear timeline on getting kids back in the classroom” or provided “parents with some certainty,” as

Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement Tuesday. For schools to reopen, new infections in the county must drop by more than half from current levels, to fewer than 7 per 100,000 residents, over consecutive weeks, and employees must have access to both COVID-19 vaccine doses, which are spaced out over three to four weeks. As new cases plunge, the first baseline looks within reach. But even with Gov. Gavin Newsom

setting aside 10 percent of vaccines for school employees, the second seems unrealistic.

It’s possible, but a glance at the calendar shows it’s neither clear nor certain. And that’s a shame.