Even though many schools across the state are closed due to California’s rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s children are receiving in-person instruction at a private school in Sacramento County.
Sacramento County is in the state’s red tier in the coronavirus reopening blueprint, meaning schools are allowed to reopen their campuses.
However, several of the large public school districts in the county have remained closed as the districts and teacher’s unions have not yet come to an agreement to resume on-campus learning.
Newsom’s four children, ages 4-11, are attending the private school with a hybrid, phased-in model.
“They’re phasing back into school, and we are phasing out of our very challenging distance learning that we’ve been doing, so many parents are doing up and down the state,” Newsom said last Friday.
It’s a situation that is not all that different from what families are facing in Fresno County. Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified and Central Unified have not fully reopened yet, while some private schools – such as Immanuel Schools and San Joaquin Memorial High School – have brought students back to the classroom.
Last week California lawmakers asked the state for more clear requirements for schools to reopen, citing concerns that private schools have an edge over public schools in returning students to campus.
Last Friday, Newsom said he believes schools need to be open as soon as possible for the general well being of the students.
“We absolutely believe that the social-emotional learning that occurs in the classroom is the best place for our kids, certainly the best place for their parents as well,” Newsom said. “And so it is absolutely incumbent to do everything in our power to provide support to our districts so that they can safely reopen – emphasis on safely reopen.”
