Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the schools in 32 of California’s 58 counties are not yet eligible to open and will have to implement distance learning.
Schools that want to reopen will need to be off the state’s coronavirus watchlist for 14 days. Since the counties on the list are many of the state’s most populous, it is almost certain that the majority of California’s schools, which are just weeks from beginning the academic year, will have to begin the year with distance learning.
“Learning in the state of California is simply nonnegotiable,” Newsom said. “Schools must, and I underscore must, provide meaningful instruction during this pandemic whether they are physically open … or not.”
About 80% of the state’s population lives in a watchlist county, according to Politico. Roughly 40 million people live in California.
Schools that are in counties able to stay off the watchlist will be required to institute many new safety policies when they reopen. These include things such as mask-wearing, sanitation, staff testing, and social distancing.
But policies such as these are not cheap to implement, and it is unclear how or if the state plans to help with the cost. Last month, The School Superintendents Association estimated that the average school in the United States would need to spend an extra $1.8 million to implement necessary coronavirus safety measures.
The governor also announced contingencies for closures for those schools that reopen and then have outbreaks.
Although Newsom said that distance learning will need to be “rigorous,” some students are bound to get left behind. Attendance in the state fell drastically when schools moved to distance learning earlier this year.
