What 3-foot social distance means for reopening California schools
By Diana Lambert and John Fensterwald
Published
(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, Calif. - New state and federal Covid safety guidelines that reduce the recommended minimum distance between students from 6 feet to 3 feet should make it easier for California schools to return students to classrooms full time, but most districts are not likely to make the change until the fall.
Instead, many district officials contacted by EdSource expressed reluctance to make changes to instructional models this school year because most have either reopened or plan to reopen campuses in the next few weeks.
School nurses could play a key role in helping school campuses reopen and keeping students and staff safe during the Covid-19 pandemic, but many California schools don’t have one. In districts that have nurses, most divide their time between multiple schools.
The lack of nurses on campuses can be challenging for schools, which must meet a raft of strict health and safety requirements in order to reopen campuses, including screening staff and students for symptoms of Covid-19, testing and contact tracing, and determining if anyone needs to be removed from the school and quarantined.
“School nurses should be involved in all conversations about school reopening and student health,” said Pamela Kahn, president of the California School Nurses Organization. “But in many districts nurses aren’t even at the table.”
Teachers in Shasta County are the next group to receive vaccine
Shasta County teachers will begin receiving their COVID-19 vaccine.
Posted: Feb 8, 2021 6:56 PM
Updated: Feb 8, 2021 10:17 PM
Posted By: Ana Marie Torrea
ANDERSON, Calif. - Starting this month, teachers in Shasta County will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccine.
The Anderson Union High School District is working closely with the Shasta County Office of Education and Shasta County Public Health to make sure teachers get vaccinated.
Community members believe getting teachers vaccinated is the first step to getting things back to normal.
“They re the leaders, they re the examples,” said John Benham of Redding. “If the teachers are going to do it, the students are going to follow the teachers. I think they should get vaccinated, let s get these schools up and running again.”