Vaccine key to reopen schools
State’s $6.6 billion bill offering financial incentives not main factor for some Bay Area districts
State lawmakers are expected today 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 this 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 two-shot 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.
He unveiled a $2 billion plan to reopen schools, some of which was incorporated in the state bill. And last month he called for dedicating 10% of the state’s vaccine supply to teachers and school staff — a provision also added to the bill — and noted at the time teachers already were being vaccinated in 35 of the state’s 58 counties. On top of that, teachers and school staff will be prioritized for “educator days” today and Friday at FEMA mass vaccination sites at the Oakland Coliseum and in Southern California.
The California School Boards Association and California Teachers Association called the school bill, SB 86, a step forward despite lingering concerns. And Zazueta added there are many school district leaders “who are motivated to try to meet the anticipated deadlines under state reopening plan so they don’t miss out on the available resources.”
But in the Bay Area, many districts have said the pace of teacher vaccinations, infection rates moving counties out of the state’s most restrictive purple tier and labor talks are the most important issues influencing the schedule.
“While we are looking at the school reopening bill and factoring that into our decision making process, the availability of vaccinations for our staff and the change in status of Santa Clara County from the purple to the red tier have been the most critical factors in our discussions around reopening,” said Fremont Union High School District spokeswoman Rachel Zlotziver.
Antioch Unified School District Superintendent Stephanie Anello said, “We made a commitment to our families that we would let them know by April 5 if we would be opening for inperson learning. SB 86 does not alter our plans at this time.”
And there are other concerns. In Los Angeles Unified, the state’s largest district, United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz said, “If you condition funding on the reopening of schools, that money will only go to white and wealthier and healthier school communities that do not have the transmission rates that low-income Black and Brown communities do.”
In San Jose’s Evergreen School District, Superintendent Emy Flores said making sure the vaccine rollout went not only to teachers but also those over age 65 who are more vulnerable to COVID-19, has been key to reassuring families with grandparents in the home that a return to classrooms will be safe.
Several districts say they will benefit from money in meeting the state plan’s deadlines, even though it wasn’t a factor in their decisions.
“I think that getting vaccinations has been a big motivator in having teachers saying they are ready to go back,” said Victoria Birbeck-Herrera, president of the teachers union for Fremont Unified. She said hundreds of teachers have now volunteered to return to classrooms.
Berkeley Unified School District spokeswoman Trish McDermott said the bill will not change its plans for hybrid in-person learning for grades preschool through kindergarten starting March 29, depending on teacher and staff vaccinations. The district plans for other elementary grades, middle school and ninth grade to return to the classroom by April 12.
Mount Diablo Unified School District said its plans to reopen under a hybrid-learning model, which brings some students back to campus in blocks, would not be altered by SB 86, though it may well meet its deadlines. No date has been set, but is keyed mostly to falling community infection rates.
“Our goals already do align with the timeline the governor put forth,” said district spokesman Austin Breidenthal. “It’s nice to see that there’s going to be dedicated funds for districts.”