California Governor Gavin Newsom recently visited Alameda Countyâs Ruby Bridges Elementary School, as roughly 9,000 of Californiaâs 11,000 schools are open now or plan to reopen in the next few weeks.
According to Newsom and his staff, the stateâs work to accelerate safe school re-openings has included a $6.6 billion package in partnership with the legislature to fund safety measures for in-person instruction and expanded learning opportunities, prioritizing vaccinations for K-12 school staff, delivering three months of PPE and safety supplies to all schools at no cost, securing federal approval to use Medicaid funding for COVID-19 testing in schools, and providing support for COVID-19 testing and direct technical assistance to school districts.