On Thursday, Jan. 21, Jeremy Decker, Superintendent of Windsor Unified School District, spoke on Zoom to the Windsor Democratic Club about COVID-19 vaccinations and plans for reopening schools.
The state of California recently announced financial incentives for schools to reopen for in-person learning. School districts would receive an extra $450 per student if they reopened by Feb. 1, Decker said. They would receive $337 per student if they reopened by March 1. The proposal has yet to be approved by the state legislature; the first hearings are scheduled for Jan. 25.
The money is not really extra money anyway, Decker said. It is money already earmarked for schools under Prop. 98.
A number of issues would need to be addressed before schools in Sonoma County are in a position to reopen. The re-opening plan requires weekly or bi-weekly testing of all students and staff. Insurance only covers one test every other month. The offered incentive does not come close to making up the difference in cost. Without additional funding schools could not afford the required tests.
The proposal calls for schools to reopen once the new case rate in the county dropped below 25 per 100,000 population. Previously, “widespread transmission,” the most restrictive purple tier, was defined as a new case rate of 7 per 100,000 and high schools will not be permitted to reopen until that benchmark is met. Sonoma County’s new case rate was an adjusted 40.6 per 100,000 as of last week. The current rate, announced Monday Jan. 25, is 41.4 per 100,000.
The state reopening plan also requires schools to negotiate a “safety plan” with unions. Decker said he could not pressure his educational staff to negotiate under a premature and unworkable time-line. Any school re-opening plan will need to balance staff and student safety against educational need.
Vaccination would make classroom instruction safer for staff, although not for students. Sonoma County schools have developed a schedule for vaccinating teachers and other school staff under the direction of Jeff Harding. North county, including Windsor, is in line to receive the vaccine first, along with Roseland and Wright school districts. These areas have the highest incidence of the virus in the county.
Unfortunately, under state guidelines most teachers are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine in Sonoma County. Teachers are scheduled to receive vaccines under Phase 1B. Sonoma County is still in Phase 1A. Only medical providers and nursing home staff and residents are currently being offered the vaccine, although state guidelines seem to be changing daily.
Marin and Mendocino were able to start offering teachers vaccines, Decker said, because they received more doses than they needed for their medical providers. And even once all teachers and staff are fully vaccinated state regulations still prevent schools from reopening until mandated guidelines are met. These currently do not include vaccination.
On Monday, Jan. 25, Harding announced that school employees over the age of 65 would be eligible to receive the vaccine starting Thursday, Jan. 28, pending an adequate supply from the next state shipment.
There are about 15,000 teachers and school staff in Sonoma County, Decker said. The Moderna vaccine requires two shots spaced 28 days apart, a total of 30,000 doses. Currently the county has been able to vaccinate just under 1000 people per day, although there are plans to increase that, assuming vaccine is available. Full immunity takes about seven days to develop after the second shot. Under ideal circumstances schools might be able to open in late March or early April, just in time for Easter break.
But even if schools were only open for one month, even one week, it would be worth it, Decker said. “We need to regain a sense of normalcy, and a sense of hope.”
After schools do fully reopen, students will need extra programs to make up for lost time. These programs will cost money. Decker urged his audience to contact their state representatives and Governor Newsom to advocate for funding sufficient to keep students educated and safe in a post-COVID world.
The next meeting of the Windsor Democratic Club will be Thursday, Feb. 25. The Zoom meeting will open at 5 p.m. Programming will start at 5:30 p.m.
Shirley Johnston is the secretary of the Windsor Democratic Club.
