One of the major topics up for discussion in the state legislature is what California’s schools will look like this fall.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said early last month he expects all K-12 schools to return to full-time in-person learning by the beginning of the next academic year. However, some questions still remain over how to get to that point.
There are a number of complexities beyond just COVID safety being discussed by lawmakers, such as funding, staffing, and class sizes.
All of these will need to be discussed by schools and state leaders as one academic year ends and another begins.
State Assemblyman Phil Ting joined KCBS Radio’s the State of California on Friday and emphatically advocated for a full return to in-person learning in the fall.
“I anticipate schools being fully open, back to normal in the fall, five days a week. If you look at COVID rates, our rates are as low as when the pandemic first started in March and our deaths are as low as last March,” Ting said. “Assuming we can continue on this progress and everyone can get vaccinated, I fully anticipate schools being back to normal in the fall.”
Ting cited the results from schools that did open up during the heart of the pandemic as reason for students to return later this year.
“Even when schools were open in November, in December, in January, we really didn’t see schools at the place where we saw significant transmission being spread,” Ting said. “And so it just demonstrated how schools could open and still be very safe at the height of the pandemic. With the pandemic being relatively low now, there’s no reason for them not to open up.”
California’s distance learning waiver, which allows schools to operate remotely, expires on June 30. After that, Ting said schools will not be able to have distance learning and he does not anticipate the waiver being extended beyond that date.
“Right now I think all my colleagues want schools to reopen in the fall, there really isn’t much debate,” Ting said. “With COVID rates I anticipate being very low in the fall, there’s no reason not to go back.”
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