Despite waiver option, East County schools won’t reopen

Greg Hetrick, Oakley Union Elementary School Districtsuperintendent, and Harvey Yurkovich, Knightsen Elementary School District superintendent, both expressed concern that waivers only applied to the lower grades. They also lacked confidence that a physical reopening would last long enough to make it worth the effort.

“What we are learning from other schools that have attempted to open, even with social distancing guidelines and hygiene protocols, is that students and staff have contracted COVID-19 and schools have had to close down almost immediately thereafter,” Yurkovich said.

The state put these procedures in place in the beginning of August. Contra Costa County did not begin accepting applications immediately, choosing to wait until Aug. 19 before allowing schools to apply to open their kindergarten through sixth-grade classes to in-person learning. Spokesman for Contra Costa Health Services Will Harper said interest is low.

“What we saw when the state first made its announcement, there were a handful of private schools that were enquiring,” Harper said. “I don’t think we got anything from a public school, so it seems that private schools, at least initially, are the most interested in giving it a shot.”

Contra Costa County health officer Dr. Chris Farnitano said the county waited the additional two weeks to consider requests to reopen since COVID-related hospitalizations leveled off in August after spiking in July.

“Our role will be to ensure that schools have a solid plan in place to protect their students and staff and show us how they will work with the health department when there is a case to prevent further spread of the virus,” he said in the county’s press release on Aug. 18.

Harper noted a completed application does not guarantee approval.

“But at the very least, there is now a formal pathway for schools to give us a proposal to reopen that we can review, and not only us, but the state department of public health has to sign off, too,” he said.

Though this pathway exists, Dr. Reyes Gauna said Byron Union School District has no immediate plans to apply to open. He said changing tracts in the middle of a semester would be disruptive to students’ education, and the cost of reopening may not be worth it.

“I think the other thing to consider is there are a lot of requirements that are embedded in the waiver and we have to make sure we can meet those needs and qualify,” Gauna said. “I think a misconception out there is that people feel that just because you have a waiver, everyone qualifies, and not everyone does.”

Harper said the county’s application will require schools to detail how they would safely conduct in-person classes and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Schools who do apply can expect to receive an answer in about 10 days.

For more information, visit the Contra Costa Health Services website at https://cchealth.org/.