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Orange County school districts will have local power to manage any COVID-19 outbreaks
School districts will manage themselves in the event of a coronavirus outbreak on a campus once they are able to return to in-person instruction, which for most public districts is on track to be allowed as of Sept. 22, Orange County officials said Thursday, Sept. 3.
Orange County CEO Frank Kim, speaking at press conference that addressed an array of subjects related to the reopening of schools, said districts will follow their own policies in deciding to stay open or not once they return to in-person instruction.
“Once we hit the 22nd, then the schools will work within their own school districts to make determinations as to open or not, and they would establish their own criteria in terms of managing outbreaks and school safety,” he said.
“They would not necessarily be reviewed by the Health Care Agency,” he said. “So it’s really up to the school, and I’m certain that the state is providing guidance.”
In July, the California Department of Public Health recommended that the number of cases of COVID-19 should decide school closings. The Irvine Unified School District, for example, cites the recommendation in its reopening plan.
That level of local control would be a striking contrast for Orange County schools, which have had to file for waivers with the county and state to restore in-person instruction for elementary school students or endure the wait until the state’s new four-tiered, colored monitoring system indicates they are allowed to return students to campus.
The state’s recent switch to the tiered monitoring system already delayed the date for in-person learning by two weeks until Sept. 22 – given virus trends locally continue in the right direction.
Kim also made it clear that districts won’t be forced to return to in-person instruction – many are planning a hybrid of in-person and distance learning – on Sept. 22, that it will be up to district leaders to transition when they feel the time is right.
Santa Ana Unified and Anaheim Union High School District have expressed concern with virus rates in their communities. Anaheim Union Superintendent Michael Matsuda said Thursday his district is cautiously exploring a mid-October opening for in-person instruction, but added that an early January date might be more realistic.
The press conference highlighted the number of elementary schools that have received waivers to hold in-person instruction immediately. The list of approved waivers, almost entirely composed of private schools, reached 119 as of Thursday.
The only public school district that has been approved for the waiver is Los Alamitos Unified. The district plans to start kindergarten through fifth grades with in-person instruction under its hybrid plan on Sept. 8.
Kim said he wasn’t sure why so few public school districts had applied for the waivers, referring that question to districts themselves.
He also said the county would be concerned if a school opened without a waiver, or didn’t comply with the safety protocols associated with receiving the waiver. He said he hasn’t heard of either happening.
“If a school was open and they weren’t approved by the state, I would absolutely have a discussion with my health officer about potentially taking enforcement action,” Kim said. “That will be done in discussion with the state.”
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel said she was “surprised” by the shift to the Sept. 22 date for when schools could resume in-person instruction, but Kim expressed stronger feelings.
“On behalf of the county, I can express to you that we were quite frustrated that we were not able to open our K-12 schools on Sept. 8, which was the date we were planning on,” he said. “We were part way through meeting the 14-day criteria to come off the monitoring list fully, and we were not provided credit for that.”