After months of waiting, all public and private schools in San Diego County received the green light to reopen for instruction starting Wednesday, now that the county’s COVID case rate has finally stayed low enough to reach the state’s less-restrictive red tier.
The momentous yet expected tier announcement by county officials Tuesday, along with a decision by a county judge on Monday, cleared the way for an expanded reopening at some North County districts that have for weeks been asking the state to reopen their middle and high schools.
At least three of those districts Poway Unified, Carlsbad Unified and San Dieguito Union High this week started offering at least one day a week of in-person instruction to their middle and high school students.
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The state Sunday night, March 7, denied at least three San Diego County school districts the chance to reopen their middle and high schools for regular in-person instruction, even though the districts said they had received the county’s blessing to reopen.
San Dieguito Union High, Poway Unified and Carlsbad Unified had submitted applications to open their middle and high schools, even though the county has not yet reached the less-restrictive red tier, which is the state requirement for opening secondary schools.
All three applied through a special state exemption process that allows districts to reopen schools if they believe they had qualified as already “reopened” before the state issued new reopening rules in mid-January.
State denies San Diego County districts reopening applications, causing frustration sandiegouniontribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sandiegouniontribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom set an April 1 reopening deadline for schools if they want to get their share of $6.6 billion in state reopening funding incentives.
Those incentives could entice local districts that have yet to set a reopening date and others that already have committed to opening in April or later.
For the record:
2:04 PM, Mar. 03, 2021This story was changed to reflect that a county needs to hold a case rate of 7 or below for two weeks to qualify for the red tier.
Of the $6.6 billion, $2 billion is for school safety measures, such as routine COVID testing or ventilation upgrades. The other $4.6 billion is for schools to address learning loss and other pandemic impacts on students. For example, schools could use the money to pay for summer school, an extended school year, tutoring or mental health counseling.