Superintendents of seven of the state’s largest school districts, including Los Angeles and Long Beach Unified, sent a letter to Governor Newsom, rejecting his new proposed school reopening plan.
Newsom’s Safer Schools for All Plan, launched in late December, encourages 1,037 public school districts in California to draft plans to offer face-to-face education, as COVID-19 cases reach a low enough limit.
Once the district reopening guidelines have been approved by local unions, city and state officials, and adopted, they may be eligible to receive $ 450 per student. For LAUSD, that could mean at least $ 180 million.
But local school districts are not ready to board yet. The letter argues that the Newsom plan has disadvantages for large school districts, such as LAUSD, which serve low-income families, many of whom are infected with coronavirus at disproportionate rates.
If these schools are unable to open for face-to-face learning due to rising case rates, local districts fear they may lose the money offered. The letter calls Newsom’s proposal for a reversal of the state’s commitment to equitable financing:
“Wealthy communities where family members can work from home will see schools open with more funding. Low-income communities that are impacted by the virus will see schools closed with less funding. “
The state plan recognizes the potential for unequal support and promises weight of funding for “districts that serve students from low-income families, English students and young adopters”.
Instead, the signatory superintendents want money to be available for all schools.
Superintendent Jill Baker of Long Beach Unified says she signed the letter because she supports the reopening of schools, but she wants to see a state standard for doing so, rather than leaving it to individual districts, as the Safe School Plan suggests.
“No school district was consulted about the plan before it was launched,” said Baker. “The letter was an effort to describe what we think needs to be done here, like the largest urban districts in the state of California.”
Baker says Long Beach Unified can only receive residual funds under the Newsom plan, after smaller districts with low cash rates get the first opportunities.
As of January 5, Los Angeles County had a daily rate of new cases of 65.8 positive cases of coronavirus in 100,000 residents, adjusted for testing. For classes to reopen, a county must report fewer than 28 positive cases per 100,000 residents over an average of seven days.
“Our proposal is to think of an equity-centric approach, to look at changing needs across the state,” said Baker.
Along with the demands on equal funding, the letter describes several other statements and recommendations:
- Districts say they are ready to receive face-to-face classes whenever health standards are met and the state determines that schools should be open
- Basic reopening guidelines should be standardized for each school district. Once secure, all districts should be required to provide personal instruction
- Public health funds, not cash Proposition 98, should be used for the school’s COVID-19 test and other health-related costs
- COVID-19 tests and vaccines must be integrated into schools and funded by the state
- Supplementary state funding must go to the reopening of special education personally
- The state must explain how the load limits for COVID-19 cases are determined to decide whether the instruction in person is safe
UPDATE, January 7 at 12pm: This article has been updated to reflect the rate of coronavirus cases across Los Angeles County.
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