San Francisco elementary schools can and should reopen immediately based on county health guidelines and regardless of employment agreements with the school district, city attorney Dennis Herrera said in a letter to the school district’s hired attorney on Thursday.
Herrera notified the school district in the e-mail communication, saying that vaccination requirements or other requirements that exceed health regulations and delay the reopening of schools violate state law and will be challenged in court.
District authorities and the union reached an interim agreement last week on the health and safety requirements needed to reopen schools. The school board is expected to vote on the deal on Tuesday, which would allow schools to reopen on the state’s second most restrictive red tier if employees are fully vaccinated. A return to the less restrictive orange level would not require vaccinations. The San Francisco Department of Public Health allows schools to reopen with a dispensation at the state’s most restrictive purple level, where the city is currently located.
The letter is the latest twist in an ongoing struggle to reopen schools. Supporters say the research shows that with the right protocols, classrooms can safely receive children back and that students are suffering academically and emotionally. Opponents acknowledge the harm of distance learning, but argue that keeping students, their families and school staff safe from the virus is critical.
In the letter, Herrera argues that the recent interim agreement requiring vaccinations for teachers and staff before a return to school in the state’s red layer is not legal and indicates that he will argue this at a court hearing on March 22.
“Be aware that any reopening plan that does not offer face-to-face instruction ‘as far as possible’ would be illegal,” said Herrera in the letter. “In short, it is ‘possible’ to offer a significant amount of face-to-face instruction now to elementary school students and vulnerable students in the purple layer at San Francisco’s current COVID-19 transmission level, without waiting for the team to be fully vaccinated. “
Union and district officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The teachers’ union and the district continue to negotiate the educational aspects of a return to face-to-face learning, including how many hours or days per week each student will be in the classroom.
Herrera’s notification to the district adds to the allegations he made in a lawsuit against the school district, saying that state law requires public schools to reopen as much as possible.
The lawsuit also alleges that the district is violating the state constitution and equal rights laws by failing to provide face-to-face classes.
Herrera also said in the letter that the health department does not limit “the number of children who can be in a classroom to a specific number”. Although health officials recommend spacing desks 6 feet away, they do not limit the number of students in a classroom, he said.
He also noted that health officials do not “limit the number of days or hours that students and staff can be safely on campus”.
“My goal in contacting you now,” said Herrera, “is to help ensure that any plan that the school district implements is legally valid, avoids the need for judicial intervention and achieves our common goal of getting children back – personal instruction. “
Jill Tucker is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @jilltucker
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated who the letter was sent to.