SPI Visits San Diego County Schools - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

SPI Visits San Diego County Schools - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Visits San Diego County Schools Open for In-Person Learning that Utilize Strong Safety Measures and Social-Emotional Supports

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond raised his hand and joined elementary students for class today on two campuses in San Diego County that have stayed open for safe, in-person learning by implementing comprehensive safety measures and offering wide-ranging, whole-child supports for students and families.

State Superintendent Thurmond visited Castle Park Elementary and Joseph Casillas Elementary, both located in Chula Vista, an area among the hardest hit by the pandemic. The schools are two out of 49 schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), which serves nearly 30,000 students, with 68 percent identified as Hispanic and 36 percent as English learners. CVESD is the largest transitional kindergarten through sixth grade school district in California and is approximately five miles from the border of Mexico.

“These schools are a model for the state and nation in how we support students while recovering from this pandemic and preparing for a full return to in-person learning,” Thurmond said. “Through inspiring investments in school-based mental health support, comprehensive safety measures such as rapid COVID testing, and engaging instruction individualized to student needs, families should feel confident that schools like these are the safest, best places for their children.”

Throughout the day, Thurmond witnessed examples of whole-child support, with layers of physical safety measures combined with onsite mental health support, learning acceleration, and proactive family engagement strategies put in place to serve students and families. In addition, Thurmond learned about CVESD’s series developed for parents to provide ways to support their children’s social-emotional wellness at home as well as resources to enhance classroom practices, such as restorative circles, social-emotional lessons, and mindfulness.

CVESD has 53 school psychologists who support district schools, including charter schools. Every site has access to a school psychologist. In addition, as part of its reopening plans, CVESD is funding part-time mental health support professionals at each of its 41 non-charter school sites from April 12 to June 15, 2021. Highlights include:

• A minimum of two days of counseling support will be provided at each of the non-charter district schools.
• Key support responsibilities: High visibility at ingress/egress, readily available for crisis intervention (triage), 1:1 counseling.
• Site-based social workers/counselors will provide support at 11 sites.
• District social workers will provide support at nine sites.
• Partner organization South Bay Community Services (SBCS) will provide mental health support providers at the remaining 21 sites.
• SBCS’s Community Assessment Team will provide an additional one to two days of case management support to CVESD’s 10 highest unduplicated student sites to connect families with case management and wraparound services (e.g., family counseling, outside therapy, etc.).

CVESD Superintendent Francisco Escobedo, Ed.D., said it is more important than ever to attend to students’ social and emotional needs.

“We believe in educating the whole child through rigorous academic instruction but also with behavioral and social-emotional learning and support,” Dr. Escobedo said. “It was amazing to share with the State Superintendent how our schools are implementing safety measures, dealing with learning loss, dealing with the trauma that our students experienced—and how we are mitigating the effects. We are deploying what we call a strengths-based focus on trauma, where our counselors, social workers, principals, and teachers are utilizing social-emotional constructs, teaching emotional self-regulation, to empower students and parents to overcome the rigors and challenges they had to go through during the pandemic.”

Among the safety measures implemented by the district, CVESD is one of 79 school districts in California that are now offering free rapid antigen testing that can provide COVID-19 test results in as little as 15 minutes. This antigen testing, made available because of a partnership with the County of San Diego, the State of California, and Primary Health and facilitated by Thurmond and the California Department of Education, is available to all staff and students throughout the school district. In addition, CVESD is hosting family vaccination clinics on a weekly basis.

School districts that are interested in enrolling in the state’s rapid antigen testing program are asked to complete this no-commitment interest form. For questions on rapid COVID testing, email RapidTesting@cde.ca.gov.

Note to editors and reporters: For photos and footage of the State Superintendent’s visit to Chula Vista schools, please contact Anthony Millican, CVESD Director of Communications, at Anthony.Millican@cvesd.org.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

SPI Visits San Diego County Schools - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

U.S. Department of Education Releases "COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs" | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Releases "COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs" | U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Releases "COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs"

Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released the COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs to provide additional strategies for safely reopening all of America's schools and to promote educational equity by addressing opportunity gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Building off of Volume 1: Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools, which focused on health and safety measures that schools can use to successfully implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) K-12 Operational Strategy, Volume 2 of the Handbook focuses on research-based strategies to address the social, emotional, mental-health, and academic impacts of the pandemic on students, educators, and staff, such as how to address any potential anxiety or depression some may face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and nearly a year of remote learning.

"There is simply no substitute for in-person learning," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "But as schools reopen their doors, we must also make sure that we are meeting students' social, emotional, physical, mental-health, and academic needs, and addressing gaps that existed before—and were exacerbated by—the pandemic. This is an opportunity for us to not only reopen our schools safely, but to make sure our education systems are truly serving all our nation's students."

Today's release is part of the Biden-Harris Administration's broader effort to provide states, districts, schools, and communities with the resources and support they need to return to in-person learning safely and quickly, and achieve the President's goal of reopening a majority of K-8 schools within the first 100 days of the Administration. Volume 2 identifies strategies states, districts, schools, and communities can use when implementing funding they have received from the American Rescue Plan, which invests $130 billion in safely reopening schools, sustaining their safe in-person operation, and addressing the impact of COVID-19.

Volume 2 also aims to meet President Biden's call for communities and the country to "build back better." As states and districts continue to reopen schools safely, the Department is encouraging communities to implement strategies that address the social, emotional, and mental-health needs of students, including the disproportionate toll COVID-19 has had on underserved communities, and address inequities in our education system that predate and have been made worse by the pandemic.

In February, the Department released Volume 1 of the COVID-19 Handbook, which provides educators and staff with practical examples, roadmaps, and tools to implement the CDC's K-12 operational strategy for in-person learning, including the recommended five key mitigation measures (universal and correct use of masks; physical distancing; handwashing and respiratory etiquette; maintaining clean and healthy facilities, including through ventilation; and contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine).

Since the release of Volume 1, the Department and CDC have met with educators; state and local elected officials, including governors, mayors, and legislative leaders in every state and territory; chief state school officers; state boards of education; and stakeholder organizations across the country about how to safely reopen schools. Volume 2 includes many strategies and resources informed by these conversations and recommended by education, civil rights, and research organizations.

As part of the launch of Volume 2, Secretary Cardona will hold a virtual roundtable with a diverse group of students and parents today, Friday, April 9, to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their education and their lives, and how the tools and resources in Volume 2 of the handbook can help assist schools and communities in addressing student needs.

Strategies described in Volume 2 can be supported by funding under the American Rescue Plan. Each section provides strategies and considerations for meeting the needs of underserved students. The sections include:

• Providing school meals regardless of educational setting.
• Meeting the social, emotional, and mental-health needs of students.
• Providing all students with access to a safe and inclusive learning environment.
• Accelerating learning through in-classroom instructional approaches, tutoring, and expanded learning time.
• Supporting equitable access and effective use of technology for teaching and learning.
• Using data about students' opportunities to learn to help target resources and support.
• Addressing resource inequities.
• Stabilizing a diverse and qualified educator workforce.
• Supporting educator and staff well-being.

The Department will continue to provide support and resources to schools and communities as they work to return to in-person instruction safely. Later this month, the Department will launch its "Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse," which is open for submissions from states, schools, districts, and individuals nationwide. Once launched, the Clearinghouse will highlight lessons learned and best practices that can help schools and districts identify opportunities to utilize American Rescue Plan funds to meet their unique needs.

U.S. Department of Education Releases "COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs" | U.S. Department of Education

How Do Students Catch Up After a Lost Year? - The Atlantic

How Do Students Catch Up After a Lost Year? - The Atlantic

Reopening Schools Is the Easy Part

Helping students catch up will be a much more difficult task.

None of this will be cheap, and after a year of unexpected expenses—laptops for students, facilities upgrades—many districts have exhausted their reserve funds. School-finance experts estimate that districts have lost north of $200 billion during the pandemic. The recently enacted COVID-19 relief bill includes $126 billion for K–12 schools, 20 percent of which is designated for helping districts make up for learning loss. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut successfully pushed for some of the funding to go to summer enrichment programs like those Columbus is planning. “While we were so laser-focused on learning loss, we forget the emotional toll that the last year has taken,” Murphy told me. “More kids than we think are going to need an emotional and psychological recharge this summer and are going to need to have a safe, fun, uplifting experience to kind of reset their brains so they’re ready to learn in the fall.”

No one I spoke with has any illusions that students will magically catch up because districts are extending the school year or offering more summer classes. If history is a guide, the commitment from state and federal officials for robust financial support will likely dissipate as soon as students from well-off families are fully back in classrooms. America has a habit of forgetting its Black, brown, and low-income citizens. Leaders like Woods and Dixon say they are looking at years of remediation, not months. “It will go way beyond 2021,” Woods told me. But the summer is a start.

ADAM HARRIS is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming book The State Must Provide.

How Do Students Catch Up After a Lost Year? - The Atlantic

My Kids’ School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts. — ProPublica

My Kids’ School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts. — ProPublica

My Kids’ School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts.

Many New York City public schools have been repeatedly closed because of two positive COVID-19 tests, even without evidence of in-school spread. Experts call it “crazy.” And it’s driving me nuts.

Here is the minute I finally lost it: Sunday, March 21, at 9:34 p.m.

That’s when my wife and I got an email saying our kids’ New York City public elementary school would be closed yet again. Testing had found two positive COVID-19 cases among nearly 700 students and staff.

It was the fifth time the school had closed since New York reopened schools in the fall. Each time has been the same: First, we get an email that testing has turned up one case. A few days later, we get a second email saying testing has found a second case and the whole school will be closed for a day while health officials investigate.

And then, every time, comes the coup de grâce form letter: “Subject: 10 Day Bldg Closure.” Per New York City policy, two unlinked cases result in the building being shuttered for 10 consecutive days.

The first time it happened, I didn’t wonder about the rationale. Everything has been crazy during COVID-19. And despite more than 25,000 deaths, New York City, with the country’s largest public school system by far, was way ahead of most other cities in opening up schools.

Then it happened again in January, again in February and twice in March. Let me be honest here: Something in me snapped with the last one. Our kids, a second grader and a fourth grader, had done five in-person school days since the previous 10-day shutdown and 19 total since the New Year. Everyone in our apartment was struggling.

I’m lucky enough to be able to work from home. But I couldn’t concentrate. Our kids needed help. And I just could not get my mind off the rule, which mandates closure for two cases regardless of the school’s size or if, as has happened in my school, the two cases are kids grades apart who never cross paths. What, I CONTINUE READING: My Kids’ School Closed Again. So I Started Calling Experts. — ProPublica

MUST WATCH VIDEO: President of the American Federation of Teachers on schools reopening - CBS News

President of the American Federation of Teachers on schools reopening - CBS News

President of the American Federation of Teachers on schools reopening

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers union, joins Nikki Battiste on CBSN to discuss how school reopening efforts are going so far.

President of the American Federation of Teachers on schools reopening - CBS News

Experts: 3-foot rule in schools problematic in light of COVID variants | CIDRAP - Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Experts: 3-foot rule in schools problematic in light of COVID variants | CIDRAP

Experts: 3-foot rule in schools problematic in light of COVID variants

Halfpoint / iStock

Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance on school reopening, saying that 3 feet, not 6 feet, of physical distancing between students was sufficient in most elementary schools—regardless of the level of community spread of COVID-19.

At the same time that CDC officials were updating school policy, they were also warning that B117, a variant strain 50% more transmissible than the wild-type virus, would likely become the dominant strain in the United States by April. In some states, such as Florida and California, the variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, already accounts for 25% of cases.

Now several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so.

CDC, states struggle with school openings

Across America almost all schools closed in March and April of 2020 as the pandemic entered its first wave and peaked in places like New York City. A barrier to reopening in the fall, especially in crowded, urban school districts, was that classrooms could not accommodate students with the CDC-recommended 6 feet of physical distancing.

The CDC said mounting evidence shows little difference in school transmission rates when students are separated by 3 or 6 feet, and it points to mounting research on student mental health, physical health, and even parental job security that shows that in-person instruction is superior for most American children and families.

"It's a balance," said Ruth Lynfield, MD, Minnesota state epidemiologist. Minnesota, along with Michigan, and North Carolina, has seen school-related B117 outbreaks spread into the community in recent weeks.

"We are in a race to vaccinate as variants spread, and currently kids and their parents are not vaccinated, so communities need to work that much harder to make in-person school happen," CONTINUE READING:  Experts: 3-foot rule in schools problematic in light of COVID variants | CIDRAP

glen brown: "Several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so"

glen brown: "Several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so"

"Several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so"

“Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance on school reopening, saying that 3 feet, not 6 feet, of physical distancing between students was sufficient in most elementary schools—regardless of the level of community spread of COVID-19.

“At the same time that CDC officials were updating school policy, they were also warning that B117, a variant strain 50% more transmissible than the wild-type virus, would likely become the dominant strain in the United States by April. In some states, such as Florida and California, the variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, already accounts for 25% of cases.

“Now several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so.

CDC, states struggle with school openings

“Across America almost all schools closed in March and April of 2020 as the pandemic entered its first wave and peaked in places like New York City. A barrier to reopening in the fall, especially in crowded, urban school districts, was that classrooms could not accommodate students with the CDC-recommended 6 feet of physical distancing.

“The CDC said mounting evidence shows little difference in school transmission rates when students are separated by 3 or 6 feet, and it points to mounting research on student mental health, physical health, and even parental job security that shows that in-person instruction is superior for most American children and families.

“‘It's a balance,’ said Ruth Lynfield, MD, Minnesota state epidemiologist. Minnesota, along with Michigan, and North Carolina, has seen school-related B117 outbreaks spread into the community in recent weeks. ‘We are in a race to vaccinate as variants spread, and currently kids and their CONTINUE READING: glen brown: "Several experts are concerned that schools may be opening during an inflection point in the pandemic and are being misguided about how to do so"

Strategies for Safe In-Person Learning - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

Strategies for Safe In-Person Learning - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Joins Educators and Experts to Discuss Strategies for Sustaining Safe In-Person Learning

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted a statewide webinar today for school leaders and other educational stakeholders designed to help schools successfully navigate the challenges of not only returning students to the classroom, but safely keeping them there for the long-term.

The webinar, “How to Keep Classrooms Safe for All: Lessons and Successes from California Schools,” featured school superintendents, health experts, and leaders in the field presenting on successful strategies for sustaining safe in-person learning in the months ahead, including available state resources for ventilation upgrades, implementing robust COVID-19 testing, and more.

“We’re at a pivotal moment for our schools. With vaccination rates increasing, and COVID-19 cases declining, it’s encouraging to see more and more classrooms welcoming students and educators back to in-person instruction,” Thurmond said. “There are many schools that are still figuring out how to make this transition, and we’re all learning this together. I am proud to continue connecting our schools with the science, support, and strategies needed to not only open classrooms, but keep them safe moving forward.”

Thursday’s virtual event was an opportunity for school districts across California to gain a deeper understanding of how phased, multi-layered safety measures applied effectively and consistently—masking, distancing, proper ventilation, COVID-19 testing, and more—can keep students, staff, and school communities safe during the pandemic. Participants heard from schools in Napa County, for example, where students have had options for in-person learning since the fall.

One critical issue is the importance of proper ventilation at schools to help reduce the risk of transmission. Schools have new resources through Assembly Bill 841, which created the “School Reopening Ventilation and Energy Efficiency Verification and Repair Program.” The bill directed upwards of $600 million in energy efficiency funding to test, adjust, and repair heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) systems in public schools over the next three years. Even prior to the pandemic, poor ventilation in schools posed a significant health risk to students. UC Davis researchers recently found 85 percent of California classrooms lack proper ventilation.

Another strategy to sustain in-person learning is robust COVID-19 testing. Earlier this month, the California Department of Education (CDE) announced a plan to deploy millions of COVID-19 antigen tests at no cost to select California school districts. Many of the tests will be delivered to school districts in regions hardest hit by the pandemic and serve greater numbers of high-risk students and families, such as households in poverty, farmworkers, and communities of color.

“Being able to quickly identify who is positive and who is not will be critically important for day-to-day operations on a school campus and will help protect not only students, but teachers and support staff,” Thurmond said.

Today’s webinar included the following speakers:

• Dr. Barbara Nemko, County Superintendent, Napa County Office of Education
• Dr. Rosanna Mucetti, District Superintendent, Napa Valley Unified
• Chris Ruch, Director of Training at the National Energy Management Institute
• Natalie Lee, Deputy Director of the California Energy Commission’s Renewable Energy Division
• Paula Villescaz, Assistant Secretary, California Health and Human Services

The webinar “How to Keep Classrooms Safe for All: Lessons and Successes from California Schools” can be viewed at any time on the CDE’s Facebook page.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Strategies for Safe In-Person Learning - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

New CDC Guidelines to Reopen Schools Could be Dangerous - Institute for New Economic Thinking #tbats #openonlywhensafe #edchat #K12 #learning #edleadership #edtech #engchat #literacy #edreform

Institute for New Economic Thinking

New CDC Guidelines to Reopen Schools Could be Dangerous

School re-opening push based on outdated science is poorly timed in face of coronavirus resurgence

The scale of disaster visited on the world by the COVID-19 pandemic defies any easy summary. But it is safe to say that the question of keeping schools open is among the most fateful decisions facing public authorities. As the pandemic stretches into its second year, it is now becoming among the most contentious.

In the U.S., after some hesitation, the Biden administration seems to be encouraging rapid opening of schools, despite high levels of community transmission in many places, before robust mitigations are completely in place. Many Republican governors and officials also demand the step, including former President Trump in his recent CPAC address. Languishing under lockdowns and zoom or hybrid classes, many exhausted parents, anxious employers, and bored students seem receptive, though polls show widespread reservations about whether premature reopening might trigger new waves of infections. In recent days, more and more states have moved to mandate full in-person classroom instruction within a few weeks.

Accompanying these decisions are organized efforts to recycle earlier studies of school safety[1] designed to reassure skeptics that reopening schools to full-time instruction is really safe, even as new variants of COVID-19 spread that are more contagious and possibly more dangerous than earlier forms. Even the Center for Disease Control is joining this rush to CONTINUE READING: Institute for New Economic Thinking

Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention | CDC

Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention | CDC

Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention

Summary of Recent Changes

• Revised physical distancing recommendations to reflect at least 3 feet between students in classrooms and provide clearer guidance when a greater distance (such as 6 feet) is recommended.
• Clarified that ventilation is a component of strategies to clean and maintain healthy facilities.
• Removed recommendation for physical barriers.
• Clarified the role of community transmission levels in decision-making.
• Added guidance on interventions when clusters occur.

---

View Previous Updates

Key Points

1. Evidence suggests that many K-12 schools that have strictly implemented prevention strategies have been able to safely open for in-person instruction and remain open.
2. CDC’s K-12 operational strategy presents a pathway for schools to provide in-person instruction safely through consistent use of prevention strategies, including universal and correct use of masks and physical distancing.
3. All schools should implement and layer prevention strategies and should prioritize universal and correct use of masks and physical distancing.
4. Testing to identify individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination for teachers and staff provide additional layers of COVID-19 protection in schools.

On This Page

• Essential Elements of Safe K–12 School Operations for In-Person Learning
• Health Equity Considerations
• Prevention Strategies to Reduce Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Schools
• Indicators of Community Transmission
• Phased Prevention
• Additional COVID-19 Prevention Strategies in Schools
• Testing
• Vaccination for Teachers and School Staff

Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Prevention | CDC

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet

The new guidance says three feet of separation is safe — if everyone is wearing a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that students attending in-person instruction only need to stay 3 feet apart, rather than 6, as long as universal masking is maintained.

The agency’s new guidance, released Friday, recommends 3 feet of separation at elementary, middle and high schools in communities with low, moderate or substantial transmission. But the agency says middle school and high school students should stay 6 feet apart in communities where test positivity rates are 10 percent or higher and cohorting — when groups of students are kept together with the same staff throughout the day — is not available.

Six feet of distance is still in all schools recommended for staff, between staff and students, in common areas, when students are eating and during activities that require increased exertion such as gym class, choir or band practice.

The change comes more than a month after the Biden administration announced its school reopening guidelines Feb. 12. The CDC’s advice then recommended schools “establish policies and implement structural interventions to promote physical distance of at least six feet” and that “cohorting or podding” could help minimize exposure.

The agency soon after came under intense scrutiny by public health officials and scientists across the country who argued it was safe for schools to maintain 3 feet of physical distance to keep children safe. The dialogue was part of a larger conversation about how the agency’s guidelines included too many restrictions and would limit schools’ ability to reopen.

In a testimony this week before the House Energy and Commerce Oversight CONTINUE READING: CDC cuts school distancing requirements to 3 feet - POLITICO

Rapid COVID Testing to Facilitate School Reopening - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

Rapid COVID Testing to Facilitate School Reopening - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond Underscores How Rapid COVID Testing Can Facilitate Safe Reopening of Schools

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted a statewide webinar today with health experts and educators that addressed the use of rapid COVID-19 testing as a tool to safely resume in-person learning on school campuses.

“I strongly believe that while we wait for a full vaccine roll-out, we also need to be moving toward a strategy for the deployment of rapid COVID testing that is cost-effective for schools,” Thurmond said. “This is one tool in our tool box—but an important one. Rapid COVID testing is a game-changer. With mounting data that students are suffering from mental health issues and learning disruptions, rapid testing is a real help for districts looking for ways to get students safely back into classrooms.”

During the presentation, Thurmond shared how the use of BinaxNOW COVID-19 Cards, which provide test results in 15 minutes at a cost of $5 per test, will be used at the California Department of Education's (CDE) three State Special Schools to safely return students to in-person instruction.

Along with Superintendent Thurmond, other individuals who presented at today’s webinar were:

• Dr. Charity Dean, Public Health Physician and past Co-Chair of the Governor’s Testing Task Force, who provided an overview of the BinaxNOW COVID-19 test and stressed the effectiveness of the tests.
• Dr. Tony Iton, Senior Vice President of Healthy Communities at the California Endowment, who provided an overview of the rapid test pilot program that is currently underway with 11 school districts.
• Roy Mendiola, Superintendent of the McSwain Union Elementary School District, who reported on his district’s positive experience using the rapid tests through the pilot program.
• Lisa Constancio, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction at the CDE, who addressed funding sources available to school districts for rapid testing.

Ensuring schools can access regular testing has been at the forefront of Thurmond’s agenda since last fall. He has been in close contact with Governor Gavin Newsom and lawmakers to include those resources in the signing of AB 86, which provides $2 billion for schools to return to in-person learning by April 1.

Following the presentations, a question-and-answer session covered such topics as test accuracy and false positives, school eligibility for the tests, and student privacy. The entire event can be viewed on the CDE Facebook page.

School districts can find more information on funding sources for the COVID tests on the CDE CARES Act Funding web page. For questions on rapid COVID testing or the webinar, email RapidTesting@cde.ca.gov.

# # # #

Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100

Rapid COVID Testing to Facilitate School Reopening - Year 2021 (CA Dept of Education)