LOS ANGELES – The conservatively biased Orange County Board of Education in California voted Monday night in favor of guidelines calling for the reopening of district schools in time for fall classes and said it it would not require social distancing and wearing masks for its students.
The OC Registry reported that the school board, which approved the recommendations in a 4-to-1 vote, has no power to demand the reopening of the county’s 27 school districts and the final decision will rest with individual districts. The Orange County Department is opposed to the reopening, according to the report.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the school board noted a white paper with safety recommendations and called the months of widespread remote learning a “total failure” for students.
“Among our greatest responsibilities as adults is our responsibility to model courage and persistence in the face of uncertainty and fear, which is what many families feel with the mixed messages and confusion surrounding the reopening of schools in the COVID era. -19, “notes the newspaper. he said, according to the report.
The board requests temperature controls and nightly disinfection of the classrooms, the Times reported.
CBS Los Angeles reported that the board held a meeting last month with experts who said in the document that requiring masks for students “is not only difficult but can even be harmful over time.”
The vote illustrates how dramatically different views on reopening can vary across the country and the inherent risk that the process will become a political tool in the process.
Cynthia Blackwell, a retired teacher, urged parents not to send their children back to school, according to NBC Los Angeles.
“They are putting all children at risk, teachers,” he said. “The children get sick and I know that many of my friends who are still teaching have older parents like me. They cannot take things home.”
Early Monday, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it would resume classes online due to a resurgence of the virus. The San Diego Unified also reportedly announced it would start the year remotely.
President Trump recently challenged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s school reopening guidelines.
The president accused the CDC of “asking schools to do very impractical things” to reopen. Recommended measures include spacing students’ desks 6 feet away, staggering start and finish times, and teaching children effective hygiene measures to prevent infection.
Governor Gavin Newsom said the districts will decide for themselves whether the opening is safe. But he said those decisions will depend on whether people can change their behavior and delay the spread.
“I would like to think that we have the ability to make better decisions in the coming weeks, where we do not have to make the decision to delay the school year,” Newsom said.
Orange County has clashed with Newsom in the past over the coronavirus guidelines. The governor was reportedly enraged in April when he saw thousands of bathers who seemed to disobey state guidelines in the county.
He announced plans to close the beaches there, prompting the chair of the county board of supervisors to accuse Newsom of overreacting and calling the move an abuse of power, Mercury News reported.
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“These are simply guidelines to keep in mind and follow according to what is best for your family: take it as it is and do what is most comfortable for you,” said Mari Barke, vice president of the board, according to Times.
Bradford Betz and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
