We're learning that Alameda County elementary schools will be allowed to reopen on October 13.
In order to reopen for in-person learning, the schools with grades from transitional kindergarten to sixth grade must first complete a reopening plan.
This isn't a requirement to open, just an advisory allowing them to do so.
"We’re no longer in the purple tier, it’s not as bad here in Alameda County as it was," Oakland Unified School District Communications Director John Sasaki told KCBS Radio's Patti Reising and Jeff Bell. "That enabled the county public health department and the office of education to decide that this is the right decision to make."
It’s not clear yet what it means for Oakland schools, Sasaki added.
"There’s a lot that has to go in to actually opening schools," Sasaki said. "One of the things that we really have to consider is what are the conditions on the ground. Are we in Oakland experiencing the ideal circumstances to allow us to reopen the way maybe some of the other parts of the county are?”
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Contractual agreements with the union representing Oakland’s teachers will play a part in the reopening process, too. Sasaki said the district does not have an agreement with the Oakland Education Association that currently allows for in-person learning.
They will be allowed to reopen "in four to twelve-week phases as local disease conditions allow," according to a county press release.
"It’s going to be a while before we can really figure out exactly when we can get to a point where we can reopen for in-person learning," he said.
There's still no specific time frame for the reopening of middle and high schools.