ALL SCHOOLS CAN REOPEN SEPT. 1, COUNTY ANNOUNCES, PROVIDED SAFETY PLANS ARE APPROVED

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version Share this

By Miriam Raftery

August 25, 2020 (San Diego) – All local schools can reopen for in-person instruction starting September 1st, San Diego County public health officials announced today.  The decision does not require schools to reopen, however. Each district will determine whether it wishes to resume in-classroom instruction, continue with online learning, or a combination of both.

The action, announced in a telebriefing with school administrators, comes after the county was removed from the state’s monitoring list on Tuesday, setting in motion a 14-day timeframe after which the state will allow in-class education to reopen.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, the County’s public health officer, says schools can remain open even if that county is placed back on the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list, though she cautioned, “If case rates become astronomically high again, that’s a game changer.”

The state requires cases stay at 100 or fewer per 100,000 population.  As of yesterday, San Diego had 80.3 case per 100,000 and has been below the state trigger level for a week. 

The reopening order applies to all schools, K-12 as well as colleges and universities, including public, private and charter facilities. 

On August 22, the County approved waivers for 27 schools, mostly private religious institutions, to reopen for in-person learning.  Around 50 schools had applied. 

However, Dr. Wooten said the count has now suspended the waiver program. “It didn’t make senses to continue to process applications,” said Wooten, since “All schools will be able to reopen Tuesday.”

To reopen for in-person learning, schools must have a plan approved for safe reopening that complies with state guidelines. However, many have already submitted these, as planning has been in the works for weeks.

Businesses that are closed cannot yet reopen, however, until the state releases updated guidelines now in the works.

The County remains too high on community outbreaks, with 20 in the past seven days; the trigger is seven or more in seven days.  Five new outbreaks were confirmed August 23rd including two in businesses, one in a restaurant, one in a hotel/resort/spa and one in a grocery store.

On a positive note, however, the rate of confirmed cases is 3% among 7,351 tested Aug. 23, with a 14 day average of 3.5%, well below the 8% target rate.

The Couunty has announced it will also begin releasing additional data on race and ethnicity of COVID-19 patients,  tests administered, case investigators, contact tracers, geographic and other breakdowns. The data will be available starting Wednesday at the county’s Coronavirus website.

Miriam Raftery, editor and founder of East County Magazine, has over 35 years of journalism experience. She has won more than 350 journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club, and the American Society of Journalists & Authors. Her honors include the Sol Price Award for responsible journalism and three James Julian awards for public interest reporting from SPJ’s San Diego chapter. She has received top honors for investigative journalism, multicultural reporting, coverage of immigrant and refugee issues, politics, breaking news and more. Thousands of her articles have appeared in national and regional publications.

East County Magazine gratefully acknowledges the Facebook Journalism Project for its COVID-19 Relief Fund grant to support our local news reporting including impacts on vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more: #FacebookJournalismProject and https://www.facebook.com/fbjournalismproject/.

You can donate to support our local journalism efforts during the pandemic at https://www.EastCountyMedia.org/donate.

 



 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.