OCDE Education in the News

Thursday, July 29, 2021

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Placentia-Yorba Linda school board wants face masks to be optional

School board members in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District plan to ask health officials to revise their guidance on face coverings by making them optional in schools and school-based programs. The board voted 3-2 Tuesday night on a resolution to formally ask the California Department of Public Health to give schools the choice of having students mask up. Board members Marilyn Anderson, Leandra Blades and Shawn Youngblood voted for the resolution while Karin Freeman and Carrie Buck voted against it.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/07/28/placentia-yorba-linda-school-board-wants-face-masks-to-be-optional/

LOS ANGELES TIMES

DAILY PILOT

O.C. Ed Board forum panelists warn of dangers they see in teaching critical race theory in schools

Trustees said their aim Tuesday was to have an open, transparent dialogue on California’s new ethnic studies curriculum — but passions among opponents ran high.

https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/story/2021-07-28/o-c-ed-board-forum-assembles-panelists-who-warn-of-dangers-of-critical-race-theory

DAILY PILOT

Coalition holds press conference in opposition to controversial O.C. Board of Education ethnic studies forum

A community coalition held a press conference on Tuesday to voice opposition to the Orange County Board of Education’s controversial forums on ethnic studies and critical race theory.

https://lat.ms/3i7xkEC

SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE

San Diego Unified starts superintendent search with 30 chances for community input

Town hall meetings will help formulate ‘Vision 2030', set goals for new district leader.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2021-07-28/san-diego-unified-begins-superintendent-search-with-community-meetings

VOICE OF SAN DIEGO

A New Window Into How San Diego Schools Are Performing

Across San Diego County, some high-poverty schools are doing much better than you’d expect in reading and math, according to an analysis by Voice of San Diego and the Center for Research and Evaluation at UC San Diego Extension. Others are doing significantly worse.

https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/a-new-window-into-how-san-diego-schools-are-performing/

NEW YORK TIMES

The Pandemic Hurt These Students the Most

New research shows that all groups are behind in math and reading after disruptions during the pandemic. But it’s the most vulnerable students who experienced the steepest setbacks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/us/covid-schools-at-home-learning-study.html

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

COVID rampant as return to school nears. Should we worry?

Even with so many people vaccinated, COVID-19 cases have multiplied at such an alarming rate that state health authorities on Wednesday called for everyone to resume wearing masks indoors as they beg more people to get immunized.

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/07/29/covid-rampant-as-return-to-school-nears-should-we-worry/

EDSOURCE

How ‘Mama Brown’ changed students’ lives by paying for college and so much more: ‘It’s not about the money’

For Gov. Gavin Newsom and anyone else promoting college savings accounts for low-income children, Oral Lee Brown has some advice: “It’s not about the money.” Brown, an Oakland real estate agent now in her 70s, has been promoting the same idea since 1987, when she “adopted” a class of first graders from Brookfield Elementary School in East Oakland, promising to pay their college costs if they stayed in school.

https://edsource.org/2021/how-mama-brown-changed-lives-by-investing-in-student-college-savings-accounts-and-so-much-more-its-not-about-the-money/65862

San Jose Unified to require staff to be vaccinated or tested twice weekly for Covid

Following the lead of Gov. Gavin Newsom for state employees, San Jose Unified announced Wednesday all staff must be vaccinated for Covid-19 for the return to school next month, or agree to be tested twice weekly. San Jose Unified will also mandate that students and staff wear masks not only inside of school buildings, as required under current state public health regulations, but also outside on school grounds.

https://edsource.org/news-updates#san-jose-unified-to-require-staff-to-be-vaccinated-or-tested-twice-weekly-for-covid

California gets $74 million in federal funds to help homeless students

California schools will receive more than $74 million in federal money to serve homeless students, the U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday. The money is part of the American Rescue Plan’s Homeless Children and Youth program, an $800 million fund to help youth who’ve experienced homelessness during the pandemic. The Department of Education distributed the first $200 million in April and the remaining $600 million on Wednesday. California’s total portion is $98 million, more than any other state.

https://edsource.org/news-updates#california-gets-74-million-in-federal-funds-to-help-homeless-students

MODESTO BEE

Why Stanislaus school districts say there aren’t plans to require staff vaccinations

The Modesto Bee reached out to district superintendents and other representatives and heard of no plans to require vaccinations because there’s no order from state or county health officials.

https://www.modbee.com/article253058218.html

KPBS

Masks Are Not Optional For San Diego Schools

San Diego County’s Office of Education is making it clear that masks are not optional for schools. They are required inside classrooms. “School districts don’t have the choice to not enforce,” said Bob Mueller, the Assistant Incident Commander for COVID-19 Response for San Diego County Office of Education. He enforces the California Department of Public Health’s guidelines. “They are clearly required to enforce.”

https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/jul/28/masks-are-not-optional-san-diego-schools/

OTHER NEWS OUTLETS

Twitter breaks, meditative walks, security guards: How school leaders are responding to an unsettling season of public outrage

As one of 27 district leaders on a national COVID recovery task force, Virginia Beach schools Superintendent Aaron Spence helped craft a list of the issues his counterparts across the country would need to consider as they reopened schools. With the uproar over critical race theory now eclipsing the frustrations over school reopening, the tenor of online conversations hasn’t necessarily improved. More superintendents have called it quits this year than normal, including those in the nation’s top three school districts.

http://laschoolreport.com/twitter-breaks-meditative-walks-security-guards-how-school-leaders-are-responding-to-an-unsettling-season-of-public-outrage/

Bay Area school districts desperate to hire teachers amid shortage made worse by COVID-19 pandemic

The Bay Area had a teacher shortage prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic has exacerbated the problem. With only a few weeks before students return to in-person learning, school districts are desperately trying to hire new teachers and staff.

https://abc7news.com/teacher-shortage-bay-area-school-districts-covid-19-impact-on-education-not-enough-teachers-in-schools/10915397/

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