Students and parents, but tonight the teachers put their foot down. They are refusing to go back into the classroom next month until conditions are safe. This could set a precedent for School Districts across the state. Heres nbc bay areas cheryl hurd. Reporter San Jose Teachers Association making it clear tonight that they are not going back into the classroom, saying inperson instruction is unsafe. One parent agrees. Theyre putting their lives at risk along with our kids. So i definitely am for them. Reporter a spokesperson for san jose unified says the first day of school is scheduled for august 12th with one teacher in the classroom instructing some students in class and others virtually. Now that teachers are refusing to go back into the classroom, the district is taking another look at their plan. It disappoints me they may not go back. Reporter mike flynn is a parent and former teacher. There really is no substitute for that face to face type of interaction, particularly with younger kids. So its going to be a real challenge. Reporter san jose teachers are following the california teachers associations lead, citing that the state does not have enough money to provide physical distancing, proper ppe, and sanitizing equipment. This major announcement comes as the Oakland Unified School district says it will start the school year one month from today with distance learning. Many families told us they dont feel comfortable with students returning to class. Many others say they want their students back in class. Of course there are serious concerns with covid. Reporter oakland teachers have been vocal about not wanting to go back into the classroom. The Safety Measures i certainly agree with in terms of the mask and distancing and cleaning of hands. But none of that is sufficient to control the virus in an institutional setting. Reporter san jose unified put out a survey to the community. They want to know what people think before they make a final decision on what the next school year will look like during this pandemic. In san jose, cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. Cheryl, thank you. Another east bay School District will be keeping kids at home for now. The hayward Unified School District announcing it will start school in midaugust. Phase one calls for students to use online distance learning. When its safe, phase two will allow the students to return to campus in small groups but will still include some distance learning. West Contra Costa County unified also announcing similar plans today. We are following breaking news in San Francisco. Several people evacuated from their homes. A threealarm fire in pac heights. Four buildings in hall. Lets bring in nbc bay areas jean elle. Where exactly are you, and whats the latest . Reporter im here in pac heights as you mentioned here at washington and franklin. Firefighters are still here. As you can see, they are monitoring for hot spots. Its taking a ladder truck to get that work done. This fire was tough to get to. It was raging on the backside of four buildings. We have some video that was taken from a nearby rooftop. You can see the flames just went up the backside of those buildings, racing, reaching the top of the threestory condo and apartment buildings. When firefighters arrived, there was lots of smoke, and that fire was spreading. Crews poured a lot of water on the fire from trucks. Witnesses say a barbecue started a fire in a backyard and it took off. Chris porter says hes lucky he spotted the smoke early, check it out and got his wife, 2yearold toddler and baby out. It started small and then started creeping up the side of the building. I went upstairs and before i noticed it it was already on this back deck up there. I was like, oh, my god, this is serious. Reporter porter says he and others started yelling fire and people evacuated. The Fire Department says everyone did get out safely. No one was hurt. Dozens of firefighters were onscene, and one of the buildings has 24 units in it. Lots of people will be staying with friends. The red cross is here tonight to offer assistance. The Fire Department says the cause of this fire is under investigation. Reporting live in San Francisco, jean elle, nbc bay area news. Thankfully no one was hurt. Thank you, jean. Just in to our newsroom now, no more Outdoor Dining in alameda county. Health leaders say the state put out new rules and the county is not in compliance. It is confusing here. Could just be a paperwork fix, but for now its back to square one. Restaurants can only be open for drivethrough, pickup, or delivery. As you might know by now, cases in the bay area continue to climb. Tonight more than 31 thu thousand reported cases. Statewide cases are also going up. In the past 24 hours, california reported nearly 7,800 new infections. Today the u. S. Hit an alltime high for most cases added in one day. More than 70,000. Governor newsom has added another bay area county to his watch list. Sonoma county joins marin, napa, solano and contra costa counties. If sonoma countys numbers dont improve by monday, a number of businesses will have to close their indoor operations. That includes dinein restaurants, wineries, bars and movie theaters. Outdoor dining and outdoor wine tasting would still be allowed. Not just san quentin. Covid infections at a marin county nursing home are also skyrocketing. Cases at the marin post acute center in san rafael have more than doubled in just the past week. Nearly 60 patients have tested positive for the virus, and 3 have died. At least a dozen Staff Members also testing positive. The countys Public Health director says not everyone is showing symptoms. Its almost always a staff member who has brought it in, may not themselves have symptoms, and then we start seeing symptoms perhaps among the residents. The county says it is conducting contact tracing. We reached out to marin post acute but did not hear back from the centers management. Starting monday a number of south bay businesses can reopen. Heres the list for santa clara county. Hair and nail salons, gyms, hotels and construction can all resume operations. Thats as long as they all meet a new list of requirements. Were taking every measure possible and even some measures that arent mandatory to ensure everybodys safety. The county has also set up this hotline. There it right there on your screen for people to report any possible violations. Good news for humans and the animals, we think. The gates at the San Francisco zoo will reopen monday. Only 2,000 people will be allowed inside, down from the normal 6,000 visitors a day. Of course masks and social distancing are a must, and the zoo is taking steps to help prevent people from touching common areas. Weve taken the handles off of our garbage cans so you dont have to touch them. All of our statues are wrapped. Our metal railings are wrapped. We really thought about every single possible way we can make it safe, accessible, and enjoyable spernlexperience for everybody. The zoo says it costs about 30,000 a day to operate and donors have been helping cover the costs during the closure. Zookeepers also say theyre looking forward to see how the animals respond to us, the humans, the visitors, after several quiet months around that zoo. As reopening plans evolve, we know it is challenging to keep track of it all. We made it easy for you. Our website is a good resource. Head to nbcbayarea. Com and on top of the home page youre going to see a little thing called the live blog. Click on that. Thats where you can get the latest updates in one place. Well, theyre bracing for what could be an explosive weekend in martinez. A demonstration planned for this sunday. It actually has been planned for weeks now in response to White Supremacy fliers that surfaced downtown. But then on fourth of july, this video went viral and garnered national attention. That couple there in the red shirts painting over parts of a cityapproved black lives matter street mural. Now city leaders and Business Owners fear that counterprotesters could turn the demonstration into a standoff. People that are organizing that in the first place, they have nothing but peaceful intentions. The fear is all around who will come and what theyll do. And im scared of that. In response, you can see it. Some Business Owners boarding up their businesses. Police telling us they will show up in force. Since the death of george floyd, city leaders in the east bay are considering shifting some responsibility away from Police Officers. This coming week, berkeley leaders will discuss a plan that would create a new department of transportation. It would be staffed by unarmed public works officials. Instead of Police Officers making traffic stops and writing parking tickets, these workers would. If the Council Approves the plan, they hope to have it up and running by next summer. Well, bailing out his friend just in time. Today President Trump commuted roger stones prison sentence. Stone was convicted of lying to congress during the russia investigation. Hes been on home confinement in florida due to the pandemic. But stone was supposed to report to prison on july 14th. Thats coming up. California congressman adam schiff said, quote, with this commutation, trump makes clear that there are two systems of justice in america, one for his criminal friends and one for everyone else. Around here weve known buster posey for about 12 years now. Never has he opened up like he did today. The giants star explaining why hes sitting out this baseball season to be with his wife and adopted newborn twin girls. We feel this is the best decision for these babies and for our family as well. He went on talking about his family life. The twins were born premature and will spend the next few months in the nicu. He and his wife kristen already have a set of twins pictured here. Theyve been trying to grow their family for years. They finally got the chance to do it. Were going to hear more from buster posey later in this newscast. Up next, though, students helping students. The unique program created at a Bay Area College to help younger kids who are distance learning. Also stepping in to keep restaurants from going under. The program in one local city to help keep its downtown thriving. Im chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. Ill show you what to expect for this weekend where mid90s are possible and what our chances are of la nina this fall and winter. Ill see you in about eight minutes. This home is equipped with gig Speed Internet from xfinity. Theres this gametime internetting room. So fun. And then theres this workfromhome internetting room. Finally, the openconcept internetting room. This is not an open house. But your front door was open, so technically it is. Get gig speeds and the most wifi coverage from xfinity. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Enhance your online experience with even faster speed. Choose from a range of fast, reliable options, up to a gig. Click or call to learn more. An army family who is always at the ready. So when they got a little surprise. Two . They didnt panic. They got a bigger car for their soontobebigger family. After shopping around for insurance, they called usaa who helped find the right coverage for them and even some muchneeded savings. That was the easy part. Usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it easy. As we approach the start of the next school year, it looks like were going to do a lot more distance learning. This summer some local College Students are helping younger students to navigate this brave new world of learning, not just here but in 31 countries. Heres nbc bay areas ian cull. Reporter when classes were shut down across the country, then turned online during the pandemic, a group of california College Students saw a need. And thats where it all got started. Reporter carly was a sophomore at harvard when she came home to finish the year online, she learned her younger peers were having trouble. Since palo alto is a really good School District and even then my friends were struggling with all these changes, i could just imagine what other students across the country had to deal with. Reporter with extra time on her hands, she and some friends from different colleges started an Online Teaching Center called wave learning festival. I was like what if we have College Students teach these short classes on topics that they love to middle and high school student. Reporter so more and more College Students volunteered to teach these free live interactive online classes. The courses available range from introduction to the cardio thoracic system to who is the greatest athlete of all time. It launched in midjune but already more than 3,000 students from 31 Different Countries have logged on to learn. Weve built this really Awesome Community of learners, and none of these students are here because they have to, right . We have no grades. Theres no tests. Reporter clear across the test, honor rodriguez, a Senior High School student in massachusetts, saw a friend post a link on instagram. And the minute that i saw it, i immediately thought, like wow, free learning . This is awesome. Reporter shes now about to start her third course in art history. A really great opportunity to learn from young people that are going into fields and really on the edge of all this new sort of scholarly or just really interesting pieces of academics. Reporter and her mom likes it too. Its like a blessing really for us. Specifically i think its two things. Reporter the goal is to help middle and High Schoolers so they dont lose all the knowledge theyve gained over the past year. At the heart of it were try to solve these issues of educational inequalities. Those problems have always existed with or without the pandemic. Its just that now its even worse than before. Reporter a pandemic has made learning different for now. And out there is a group of smart kids hoping to help younger ones stay interested and get through this. Ian cull, nbc bay area news. That could be very helpful. Heres another story to give us some hope. A little Silicon Valley ingenuity. We checked out the latest invention from a 13yearold in south San Francisco. His name is masan thompkins. He calls it the safe touch pro. It provides a safer way to touch things. Thats easy. He came up with it when he saw his parents using their sleeves to open doors. So its gentler on surfaces. Its also lighter. And antimicrobial to kill germs. Nice work. Hes already made and sold hundreds of these gadgets. San mateo county supervisor even today named this day after tompkins. Not only survive but maybe even thrive. Redwood city is continuing its Popular Program aimed at helping downtown restaurants and retailers. Open up the streets al fresco all summer long. Heres nbc bay areas sergio quintana. Reporter there are a few streets in downtown redwood city blocked off for this program. Its called eat, sip, and be. San mateo county already allows Indoor Dining but customers are still uneasy about sitting inside an enclosed space for an extended period. So sitting outside is a welcomed alternative. I love eating outside because the weather is great down here. More outside seating is good. Every restaurant weve been to has been fanatical about making sure we knew what they were doing to keep us safe, and we want to reciprocate and tip well and help them make some money. Reporter redwood city has blocked off some of the downtown districts busiest thoroughfares. A portion of broadway, theater way, and main street are closed to cars but open to restaurants and bars to set up tables for service. The newly closed streets are also popular with residents who are not stopping in for a bite to eat. I think it also adds to the environment of people wanting to come outside but still feeling very safe, and then i have two kids, so sometimes they ride their bike while were at the restaurant. Reporter moving dining outdoors has become a popular strategy to help keep restaurants and retailers in business. This program also includes several signs and hand sanitizing stations along the way reminding people to be safe. The eat sip and be Program Continues through the end of september. In redwood city, sergio quintana, nbc bay area news. Thats a great spot to be midpeninsula. Lets bring in our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. We loved it earlier tonight. You were talking more gardening tips. Now we can implement your lessons this weekend or you can just come to our house, jeff. It will be my work from home legacy, how i showed people how to keep the gophers out of your plants. Long story short, i use chicken wire to wrap my plants. The roots, gophers ate through them, so i showed earlier today how you can use a mesh wire, a steel wire to keep those roots solid so the gophers cant get through them. Ill post it up on my instagram a little bit later on. Lets get you into that weekend forecast. If youre doing some planting, gardening, maybe youre out in redwood city enjoying the restaurants doing some outdoor eating. We do have some hot weather, but heres the thing. Theres also some fog at the immediate coastline. Thats going to really help to give us some widespread temperature extremes. As ive been saying all week long, its a classic summer forecast here for us in july. So do notice we do have that patchy fog possible near the peninsula at the immediate coastline and 59 degrees. Well start with 60 in the trivalley and south bay at 61. Over to the east bay, 59. A few areas of patchy fog in San Francisco and 56. And the north bay right