With the 2020-21 academic year quickly approaching, the main question on the mind of students and parents is — will Orange County schools reopen this fall for in-person education?

On Monday, July 13, the Orange County Board of Education held a special meeting to discuss the, “Safe and Effective Reopening of Orange County Schools.”

During the meeting, the board voted 4-1 to adopt a white paper issued by American Academy of Pediatrics, which states that children are low-risk groups for transmission and that face masks and social distancing will not be required when students return to campuses.

Orange County Board Of Education Special Meeting On July 13

Members of the Orange County Board Of Education listen to public comments during a special meeting on July 13.

 

The report, which is titled, “COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Guidance for School Re-entry,” lists a variety of protocol, guidelines and recommendations for which the county should consider, if districts decide to reopen schools for in person education this fall:

  • K-12 children represent the lowest-risk cohort for COVID-19. Because of that fact, social distancing of children and reduced census classrooms is not necessary and therefore not recommended.
  • Requiring children to wear masks during school is not only difficult – if not impossible to implement – but not based on science. It may even be harmful and is therefore not recommended.
  • Children play a very minor role in the spread of COVID-19. Teachers and staff are in greater danger of infection from other adults, including parents, than from students in their classrooms.
  • Participation in any reopening of public education should be voluntary. These guidelines are not “laws” or “regulations” or even “rules.” Parents, not government officials, are in the best position to determine the education environment that best suits their children. If a school district is unable or unwilling to provide that education, parents should be allowed to send their children to a district or charter school that will provide that education. Some parents with the means will opt for private schools or home schooling.
  • Temperature checks should be performed regularly. As with any illness, ill children, teachers, or staff should be sent home and if identified not allowed to be on campus

Members of the board indicated the report’s findings were not mandates, but rather recommendations. All in-person instruction will be voluntary, and online options will be available to those that need it.

According to their statement, “The Orange County Board of Education concludes that it is not acceptable to delay the opening of public schools as it is not in the best interests of our children and families. Further, it is not clear that an effective cure or a vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) will be developed in the near future if at all.”

First District Trustee Rebecca “Beckie” Gomez was the lone “no” vote on the board’s 4-1 decision. After the vote, Gomez expressed her disappointment regarding the adoption of the AAP white paper.

Gomez, who said she was not in agreement with the board’s decision, pointed out that she felt the board failed the public by not allowing them to engage in discussion regarding the board’s move to adopt.

“We mention that there were comments for discussion, yet we didn’t have any option for the public to get responses to their questions, and I think that why there’s so much frustration by the public,” Gomez said during the meeting. “And it also references open discussion for interested parents and community members — and unfortunately we failed in doing that.”

Gomez, whose board seat oversees Fountain Valley, Santa Ana andportions of Garden Grove and Tustin, also took issue with parts of the report that failed to cite findings.

“There are many pieces of information here that don’t have citations, which is difficult for me,” she said. “As an educator if you say something, then you should be able to back it up, and unfortunately there’s many places in this report that we don’t back it up.”

The Irvine Unified School District is set to begin the 2020-21 academic school year on August 20. However, the district has has yet to make a formal decision regarding the use of face masks in classrooms.

Some parents have accused the IUSD of having an anti-mask approach to wearing face masks on campus.

In a July 1 statement to address the issue, Annie Brown, Public Information Officer for Irvine Unified School District, explained that the district would continue to monitor state guidelines.

“There has been some confusion or misinformation that IUSD has made a decision about masks that is ‘anti-mask’ or ‘anti-science.’ IUSD would like to assure our community that neither assumption is correct. The Board and District leadership will continue to examine the guidelines for Orange County schools, which are evolving, while monitoring health conditions in our county and state before making final decisions.”

As of July 13, with coronavirus cases increasing across the state, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of gyms, bars and churches.

The governor could make a decision regarding schools. Yet, while guidelines are continuing to evolve on a state level, 3rd District Trustee Ken L. Williams, Jr., who oversees Irvine, said it would be a tragedy if the governor were to order the closure of schools in California.

“That may happen. It would be a tragedy. I think the decision at a local level is far better than one individual making that decision. There are certainly many counties in the state that are really not impacted by this virus at all — L.A. County is severely impacted,” Williams said. “The remainder of the state, say Riverside, they are impacted, but I think the decision would be best by the local school boards, County Boards of Education, rather than the governor. “

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