New School Year May Start In July To Make Up For Learning Loss From Coronavirus, Gov. Newsom Says
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — As state leaders laid out more details on how California can reopen amid the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced they are also considering starting the new school year early to try and stem the disruption in education caused by the crisis.
The governor again reiterated at his daily press conference on Tuesday his declaration that California is possibly weeks, not months away from modifying the stay-at-home order.
Newsom stressed that he's basing his decisions on the six indicators he's laid out before, not on political pressure.
"Politics and protests will not drive our decision making. Science, data and public health with drive our decision making," Newsom said
Recognizing that there has been a learning loss with schools canceling in-person classes, Newsom mentioned that leaders are talking about starting the new school year early.
"We are considering the prospect of an early start to the new school year as early as July," Newsom said. "We need to start to prepare for the physical and environmental changes in the schools."
He reiterated that the early school year plan was still just talk, at this point.
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As of now, students have been learning remotely from home because of the pandemic. Parents like Andrea Uleia say that sometimes distance learning can be a struggle.
"They're really out of their environment. They don't know what they're doing," she said. "They're frustrated — as we all are."
Governor Newsom noted as a father of four himself, he can tell kids are missing out.
"We recognize there's a learning loss because of this disruption," he said. "I think we might want to consider moving the school year up a bit."
The announcement surprised some educators like Natomas Unified's Superintendent Chris Evans, who is pleased education is recognized as a priority.
READ: Getting Schools Back Open Could Take Distancing, Disinfecting And A Lot Of Handwashing
But, like any educator, he has questions. The simplest of them all is what the school year would look like. He also wonders if students will start with distance learning or head to classrooms with physical distancing limitations. He, like many others, hopes that guidance comes soon.
"It doesn't matter if it's July or August – we need to know what we can do and we'll work hard to figure out what is possible," Evans said. "It has to come sooner rather than later, those conversations. It doesn't matter when you want to open, it's going to take some time to reinvent education again. We've already reinvented once."
Teachers like Twin Rivers' Isabella Di Ruocco told CBS13 they know there's a lot of catch up to do. She's been teaching her kindergarten students remotely.
"That's really set us back," Di Ruocco said. "There's going to be a lot of kids that are behind."
With an early start, there are a lot of "what ifs" for them, too. Many come down to contracts.
"We work on a contract that's 10 months, so I'm not sure how that's going to work, that's going to probably be a lot of back and forth between our unions and the districts."
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The idea of an early school year intrigues parents like Amber Williams, who says she's supportive of an early start, even from home.
"That was my hope, that they'd start earlier," Williams said. "But what that looks like, I don't know. I just want them to go back when it's as safely possible."
Newsom also noted that California was only in the first of four phases of reopening. In this first phase, officials are focused on flattening the curve with building stores of PPE and hospital capacity, among other issues. Phase two, which Newsom said is possibly weeks away, is when "low risk" businesses can start reopening with adaptations.
Phase three will be when high-risk jobs, like barbers and salons, could start reopening. Phase four will be the end of the stay-at-home order.
Newsom noted that phase three and four are months, not weeks away.
