SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Public Health on Monday evening unveiled the much-anticipated process for elementary schools to request a waiver to resume in-person instruction in counties on the state’s coronavirus watchlist.
The waivers are only available for grades transitional kindergarten-6 and may be requested by a district superintendent, private school principal or head, or executive director of a charter school, the CDPH said in an overview of the process. Applicants must affirm they consulted with parent, labor and community organizations.
The waiver application must also include confirmation that the school’s reopening plans have been published on the website of the local educational agency or private school.
The CDPH said reopening plans must address, at a minimum, plans for cleaning and disinfection, cohorting, movement within school, face coverings and protective equipment, health screenings, hygiene practices, contact tracing, physical distancing, employee training and family education, testing, communication plans and triggers for distance learning.
Applications will be reviewed by local health officers, who will consider, among other things, available scientific evidence regarding COVID-related risks in schools serving elementary-age students; whether in-person instruction can be provided in small, stable cohorts; local epidemiological data; local conditions or data contributing to inclusion on the watchlist; and availability of testing resources, the CDPH said.
The CDPH said local health officers are then expected to consult with the CDPH about whether the grant or deny an application. The officers, the CDPH added, may conditionally grant an application with limits on the number of schools allowed to reopen or allow reopening in phases to monitor for any impact on the community.
Dozens of Bay Area schools have inquired with local health officers about waivers since Gov. Gavin Newsom ruled that K-12 instruction begin online in counties on the watchlist. Every county in the greater Bay Area is on the watchlist.
“COVID-19 continues to spread in California, and to help slow transmission we must focus on basic public health guidelines to protect our families, our communities, and our students from the virus,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, state public health officer and CDPH director in a statement. “Today’s guidance ensures that critical public health measures are in place to reduce risk in a number of educational and youth settings.”
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