School Board Members Sawyer-White, Householder express their opposition

By Allen Payton

Following a presentation by Antioch Police Chief T Brooks and listening to over 100 comments mostly from students and recent graduates of high schools in Antioch opposing the placement of police officers on campuses, known as School Resource Officers (SRO’s), the Antioch City Council voted 3-2 to approve accepting a $750,000 federal grant to fund six SRO’s. Councilmembers Monica Wilson and Lamar Thorpe voted against the motion that included the condition the Antioch School Board agree to fund half of the cost.

But the decision will be left up to only three of the board members, as Trustees Crystal Sawyer-White and Ellie Householder, who is running for mayor, opposed placing the six SRO’s on Antioch school campuses. However, Sawyer-White supported having them at sporting events.

Mayor Sean Wright spoke first saying, “I would like to thank Chief Tammany Brooks for bringing this to council. This is something people in the community have been asking for, for a long time. But due to a downturn in the economy…part of the plan was as we increased the number of police on the force, with community policing there is an opportunity to put officers on campus. Not just for safety, but to build relationships.”

“Several students said they never saw cops, they didn’t have relationship with officers,” Wright continued. “Our youth need to understand our officers, and our officers need to understand our youth. That interaction…on campus. I have two children that attend Deer Valley High School. I think this is something that needs to be for us to approve, contingent upon the school board approving them, and that they want to help pay for them.”

In response to Wright’s comments Thorpe then said, “Like you I’m the only other one on here that currently has students in Antioch schools. When my daughter leaves Holy Rosary, I’m not going all the way to Carondolet. I want her going to high school in Antioch.”

“That’s not what I’m hearing from community members,” he said in regards to Wright’s comments. “What I have heard is that they want youth programs…that they’re wanting our youth directed into the right paths…gang intervention in our schools. I don’t want my daughter to go to school where there are police officers. With the work Chief Brooks is doing with community policing, stopping and playing basketball, that’s the kind of engagement.”

He said he was “particularly impressed” with the comments from all the youth.

“In the face of the $1.8 million cuts the school district recently made…counselors, bilingual aids for students that have language barriers. I’m all for funding positions at the school district,” Thorpe stated. “If we want to give police officers overtime to go to basketball games, I’m all for that. But I’m not for this as an African American parent, a Latino parent…with what’s going on in this country, today. I find it very very problematic that we’re going in this direction. I think we should postpone this until we find out from the district if they’re willing to fund this. And with the pandemic we don’t know when kids will be going back to school. This one gives me a lot of heartburn because this is against what a lot of people are demanding in our country, in our community, which are services.”

“I too have been listening to the youth,” said Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock asking of Antioch Police Chief Tammany Brooks, “Can you please tell us why you applied for this grant, Chief?”

“Since I’ve been chief, I’ve had residents asking me when I think I can put school resource officers back into the schools,” he responded.

“You have been working with AUSD on this grant, correct?” Ogorchock said.

“That is correct. We worked with the school district on applying for this grant,” Brooks replied.

“All my kids and the kids they grew up with didn’t have a fear of police, because they had relationships. I’ve heard loud and clear they want police at the schools and at the events,” Ogorchock stated. “I’m appreciative of the students commenting. But I also have to listen to the parents.”

“Chief can you use this grant for mental counseling or anything else?” she asked.

“No. This is a DOJ grant specifically for school resource officers,” Brooks explained. He then said the decision has to be made by August 9 and that AUSD Superintendent Stephanie Anello planned to have a special meeting, next week to discuss the issue.

“I support this,” Ogorchock concluded.

“You said something to the amount of training,” Wilson said to Chief Brooks.

“In the first six months there’s a mandatory 48-hour training course for school resource officers,” Brooks said. “That training is new training. This training is current…to benefit the relationship between the schools, the students and law enforcement.”

The training includes de-escalation and cultural awareness, he mentioned. “The grant pays for this specific training and advanced training.”

“I’m not one to use our police officers as mental health experts,” Wilson stated. “I heard from the 700 people who commented (at the council’s meetings in June) ‘our police officers are not social workers.’”

“How do we address the trauma our students are going through at home?” she asked. “Our council of teens are saying we need to address mental health. I just think if we’re going to invest…we need to invest more in mental health…tutors.”

“I think this needs a longer conversation and I’m surprised this didn’t go to the school district, first,” Wilson continued. “I’d like to learn what their plan is, first. It just doesn’t sit well with me to have officers in a role instead of mental health experts.”

“I just can’t vote for these six officers when these students are asking for the counselors,” she concluded.

Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts then said, “First, I just want to make the comment that I wish we had more time to consider this. I think the chief received this June 25th, so we haven’t had the time to discuss this.”

She said she wished it could have been sent to the city council-school board subcommittee for discussion, first. Motts then suggested a rigorous interview process for the officers with parents and school staff.

“We have options, here,” she continued and asked for “Full support from the school board and there financial commitment of at least $250,000 and going forward the collaboration of all three agencies.”

“That’s really the only way to go forward with that,” Motts added.

Thorpe then said, “I think we need to ask the school district if they’re going to fund this entire thing. I also don’t accept this notion we can’t meet. Both the mayor and Diane Gibson-Gray, the president of the school board have the power to call meetings. So, there’s no excuse. The school-council ad hoc committee should have met on this issue.”

“Joy you did it as the president of the school board when they were trying to steal Dozier-Libbey Medical School,” he added.

Thorpe then made a motion that the school board pay for the entire amount. Wilson seconded the motion.

“Are you asking for them to fund the entire $754,000?” Motts asked.

“Yes,” Thorpe replied. “If they want this, they’ll pay for it.”

So, the amount he wanted the school district to pay for was the total amount except for the grant.

Ogorchock then offered a substitute motion to accept the grant and fund the six school resource officers.

“Part of the acceptance of this grant, we would then enter into an MOU with the school district,” Chief Brooks explained responding to a comment by Motts.

Motts then seconded Ogorchock’s motion.

“A substitute motion?” Thorpe asked. “That would require a four-fifths vote.”

“A substitute motion requires a majority vote,” City Attorney Thomas Smith responded.

“The motion is $750,000 contingent upon the balance from the Antioch School District,” Wright said.

“All six officers, the grant funds are there, and the school district picks up half,” Ogorchock repeated her motion.

“So, whatever we send to the schools, they could kick back to us with ‘no, we want to pay a lesser amount,’” Wilson said.

“To make it clear, all the current students, tonight they don’t have the resources to support our students,” Motts said. “To ask them to do something with the money they can’t do.

Brooks explained that Brentwood has three SRO’s and the district splits the cost fifty percent with the city. He also mentioned Pittsburg still has five SRO’s and the school district pays $550,000 toward their costs. However, Brooks shared that both Concord and Richmond which each had four SRO’s have stopped their programs.

The substitute motion passed 3-2 with Wilson and Thorpe voting no.

By Velma Wilson

We may not be headed back to the classroom yet, but students still need school supplies for the school year. Let’s prepare students for success by ensuring they have the necessary school supplies while they are distance learning.

On August 15th from 11am- 2 pm, in the parking lot of Somersville Towne Center, Claryssa will host her Annual Stuff the Bus School Supply Giveaway. She will also be accepting school supplies, donated computers, and Ipads to have refurbished and then distributed to students and families in need. Social Distancing will be adhered to and mask/face covering is mandatory.

Requested donations:

Wide & College Ruled Notebooks

Wide & College Ruled Filler Paper

Colored Pencils

Colored Markers

Crayons

Highlighters

#2 Pencils

Mechanical Pencils

Ink Pens (blue, black, red)

Erasers

Glue Sticks

Rulers

Pencil Sharpeners

Folders

1″ Binders

2″ Binders

Dry Erase Boards & Markers

Staplers and staples

Backpacks for Laptops

Monetary donations can also be made to Claryssa for Stuff the Bus via Venmo @CWILSON1216

For questions please contact Claryssa at 925-250-0692 or Velma at 925-250-3051.

Will study molecular biology, computer science

By Antioch Unified School District

   Like so many, Deer Valley High School had an unusual end to its school year. But two Deer Valley students continued to shine and rose to the top of the Wolverine pyramid.

   Britney Ta was the valedictorian while Jasmine Yang earned the title of salutatorian. Ta ended her year with a weighted GPA of 4.3953. She accomplished this impressive feat by working hard, of course, and taking 11 AP courses in three years.

   She said her favorite subject was “definitely psychology with Mr. Gorski. His classes were always super engaging and interesting with his unique teaching style. As a class, we established multiple inside jokes and created a sense of community among our peers – something I find to be pretty rare in most classrooms. I looked forward to going to school on the days I had AP Psychology.”

   Additionally, she enjoyed AP Calculus with Ms. McClain, who was “also super invigorating. I feel she prepared me for college like no other. She deserves the highest of recognitions.”

   Aside from her studies, Ta also kept busy as an active member of Key Club, CSF, the DV Dance Crew, which was “definitely one of the highlights of my high school career. It was incredible.”

   One of her favorite memories from Deer Valley was during the homecoming assembly.

“I was a part of a friend’s skit and able to become close friends with people I would never meet otherwise through our skit practices.”

   Ta attended kindergarten and part of first grade in Hayward. After moving with her family to Antioch, she went to at Diablo Vista Elementary and Dallas Ranch Middle before becoming a Wolverine.

In the fall, Ta will go to UC Santa Barbara with plans to major in computer science.

   Salutatorian Jasmine Yang earned a final GPA of 4.3478. Her favorite subjects were Japanese, math and biology. She really enjoyed Ms. McClain as her math teacher “because she made class and learning enjoyable.”

   Some extracurriculars Yang participated in were the Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair, where “my partner and I won fourth place in the biology division.” She also was involved in MESA winning second place the Math Escape Challenge and was active with the Japanese festivals held on the DV campus.

   Her favorite high school memories revolve around the Japanese festivals because “even though they took a lot of hard work to set up, work through and clean up, I had a great time laughing and (being) alongside my friends and classmates.”

   Like Ta, Yang also attended Diablo Vista Elementary School and Dallas Ranch Middle schools. This fall, she will head to Cal and major in Molecular and Cell Biology.

   “I am very proud of Britney and Jasmine,” said DV Principal Bukky Oyebade. “They have worked very and proven just how resilient they are. DVHS has several outstanding young people, and these two young ladies have risen to the top. I wish them well and would love for them to stay in touch and come back to pour into the underclassmen.”

#WeAreAUSD

Dear Editor:

As the only African American School Board Trustee for Antioch Unified School District I can no longer remain silent during this pandemic. President Diane Gibson-Gray continues to undermine my ability to perform my fiduciary duties as a board trustee. For the past four months, the AUSD Board meetings have been virtual, and President Diane Gibson-Gray intentionally orchestrates ethnic intimidation and instrumental workplace bullying practices virtually. This is the time to recognize humanity during COVID-19 as we witness the racial strife in America and in East County. As President of Antioch Board of Education leadership is paramount. President Gibson-Gray continues to disregard leading our Board and work collaboratively. She exhibits incompetence as a leader. Parents and teachers have emailed me inquiring why for the past four months the Board Trustee faces are not displayed. I want to inform the public that the Trustee Householder and myself have been intentionally blocked.

As a parent and as a Board Trustee I am deeply concerned that the disregard of addressing safety for our students and staff is appalling. The first virtual meeting on April 8th (see agenda) President Gibson-Gray placed on the Agenda listing under Items for Information/Discussion/Action items requested by the Board None (Due to the current pandemic, only essential items will be placed on the agenda until the shelter in place is lifted.) This pandemic is a public health crisis and not addressing as a Board Governance team the COVID-19 policies and procedures is seriously disturbing.

My fellow Board Trustee, Ellie Householder and myself were not allowed to ask any questions based on her authority. The entire Board did not vote on this absurd “protocol”. This is a constant pattern with President Gibson-Gray not able to be a leader pertaining to safety for our school district. In January, Jonathan Parker was gunned down and the family continues to grieve.

During the pandemic, the safety precautions are more critical than ever. Trustee Householder and I have requested for a Board Workshop Reopening Plan for July and we are denied numerous times during this crisis.

During the month of July, I sent many emails to President Gibson-Gray specifying a Board Workshop is crucial to schedule prior to our August 12th Board meeting. Her response was to check with our Superintendent. Once again President Gibson-Gray is not a leader for our Board. The Superintendent works for us. Listed below is what I specifically requested:

1) Start with Advisory Committee (including Counselors, Teacher, VP’s)

2) An Updated Organizational chart of Certificated and Classified Staff

3) Health and Safety Guidelines

4) PPE Projected Expenses

Antioch Unified School District deserves a leader during these unprecedented times to reassure our students, staff, and administration to provide safety and transparency.

Stay safe,

Crystal Sawyer-White MS

Board Trustee

Antioch Unified School District

Householder launches campaign by challenging Wright with false statement about his lack of comment on Antioch Police Officer under investigation

Hack takes out papers to run for third term on Antioch School Board

By Allen Payton

Not even half-way through her term on the Antioch School Board, Trustee Ellie Householder has decided to throw her hat in the ring and become the eighth candidate to run for Mayor of Antioch, in the November election. She took out Nomination Papers for the city’s top office on Thursday, according to a report by City Clerk Arne Simonsen.

In addition, according to the latest report by the Contra Costa Elections office, Antioch School District Trustee Gary Hack is the first candidate to take out Nomination Papers in Area 4, seeking his third term on the board. The retired Antioch teacher was first elected in 2010 placing first out of eight candidates. Hack lost his race for re-election in 2014, placing third behind Walter Ruehlig and Debra Vinson. He then made a successful comeback in 2016, that time placing third behind Crystal Sawyer-White and Diane Gibson-Gray.

Householder, listed formally as Elizabeth on her papers, is the youngest member of the school board to which she was elected in 2018, placing a distant second behind Trustee Mary Rocha, just after finishing college and while completing her master’s degree. If elected, she would also be the city’s youngest mayor in recent history.

On her personal Facebook page, Householder announced her campaign for mayor Thursday evening by writing:

“Congressman John Lewis once said: Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.

In that spirit, today, I pulled papers to run for Mayor of Antioch.

In December, our current mayor (who is trying to get re-elected) took THOUSANDS of dollars from the police union and we wonder why we still have a killer cop (Officer Mellone) in our community. To date, not the mayor or a single council member has said ANYTHING about this.

We deserve better.”

However, in June, Mayor Wright called for an investigation of Officer Michael Mellone by the Antioch Police Department who was hired while facing discipline by his previous employer, the San Francisco Police Department. According to a June 24 Herald article, “In response to a call by Antioch Mayor Sean Wright for an investigation into the hiring of Mellone, Antioch Police Chief Brooks said on Wednesday, ‘the investigation is still in progress.’” More recently, Brooks told the Herald an outside agency was brought in for the investigation and is reviewing over 1,800 pages of documents related to the case of the shooting death of a homeless man, Luís Góngora-Pat, by Mellone, while an SFPD Officer, and his sergeant, in April 2016.

According to several news reports, at the time Mellone was hired, again by the APD in August 2019 – he had previously worked for the department until 2012 – Mellone was facing discipline by the SFPD for escalating the situation and his use of non-lethal force by shooting a bean bag gun at a homeless man, Luís Demetrio Góngora-Pat, who then brandished a large kitchen knife at the officers, and was subsequently shot and killed by their service weapons. The two officers were cleared by both the SF District Attorney and SFPD Internal Affairs Division for their lethal use of force.

A 10-day suspension was recommended by the SFPD’s IAD, and the citizen-run Department of Police Accountability recommended that the (San Francisco) Police Commission suspend Mellone for 45 days. Neither occurred as he was hired by the Antioch Police Department before a final decision was made on any discipline, which could have been delayed further, if Mellone remained with the SFPD and chose to fight it. (A more thorough report by the Herald about the matter will be published once the investigation of Mellone is complete).

Householder joins seven others, including Wright, former Mayor Wade Harper, Councilwoman Monica Wilson and former Planning Commission Chairman Ken Turnage II, along with three others, including one candidate who ran for governor in 2014.

City Clerk Simonsen reported the following Antioch residents have taken out Nomination Papers as of 5 p.m. July 23rd or Qualified for the following offices:

CITY OFFICES

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Mayor of Antioch

Julio Mendez

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20 – candidate for Governor of California in 2014

Kenneth Turnage II – former Antioch Planning Commission Chairman

Monica Wilson – Antioch Councilwoman

Wade Harper – former Mayor of Antioch

Gabriel Makinano

Elizabeth Householder – Antioch School Board Trustee

—————

The Contra Costa Elections office provided the following information for candidates as of 3:59 PM on Thursday:

ANTIOCH SCHOOL BOARD

Area 4

Gary Hack – Antioch School Board Trustee

There were no additional candidates in the other races in Antioch who took out or filed Nomination Papers as of Thursday at 5:00 p.m. To see the latest list of all candidates visit the Election 2020 page on the Antioch Herald website. The list will be updated each day when additional registered Antioch voters take out or file their Nomination Papers. Filing closes on August 7 unless an incumbent chooses to not seek re-election, which only affects the races for mayor, city clerk and city treasurer.

The following Open Letter was sent to the AUSD Board on Saturday, July 18 regarding the AUSD webinars of July 16, 2020 and Governor Newsom’s press conference of July 17, 2020

Dear Board Members and Others,

My name is Mark Hadox and I am concerned about the AUSD plans for using the hybrid model for the upcoming 2021 school year.

There are many ideas and various models of school re-opening and learning methods for 2021.

On Friday, Governor Newsom laid out mandatory guidelines for opening schools and closing schools. School openings will only happen upon general county-wide health criteria being met as well as specific school and district criteria.  Now AUSD must form a plan which works within the governor’s criteria and has the best chance of success.

After schools are permitted to open the governor’s plan calls for closing schools and returning to distance learning when any of the following conditions are met:

a) One person in a class with confirmed positive would cause the 14-day quarantine of those exposed to that person.

b) school reverts to distance learning when multiple cohorts have positive cases

c) or school reverts to distance leaning when 5% of students and staff test positive

d) district reverts to distance learning when 25% of schools have been closed

After 14 days under each condition the school may return to in-person instruction with the approval of the local public health officer.

How do those state mandated criteria apply to AUSD in real numbers?

From Wikipedia, there are about 17,000 AUSD students so with a student to teacher ratio of, say 27, the result is approximately 630 classrooms and 630 teachers and hundreds more specialty teachers, substitutes, and staffing.

When each of those 630 classes are split into two cohorts for in-class teaching that will be 1,260 cohorts, spread among 25 schools in the district, including two of our six high schools having about 2,000 students each.

Note, per Contra Costa Health on 7/17, the current positive countywide test rate is 8%.

Applying an 8% positive rate to cohorts of 13 students the result would be 1.04 positives, so it seems pretty clear that right off the bat many cohorts will meet the criteria for the immediate 14-day quarantine of that cohort.  Many more than one of the 1,260 cohorts in the district are certainly going to be affected early on in the school year.

Remember, even just two positive cohorts requires a school to revert to distance learning.

Also, an entire district closure happens when 25% of schools close, which would be 6 of AUSD’s 25 schools, it is readily apparent that a few positives will result in the district meeting the 6 school threshold to close the district quite quickly.

Even if the infection rate is cut in half to 4%, that is still about 700 positive throughout the AUSD population of students and staff.  It only takes as few as 2 positives to close a school and so as few as 12 positives can close six schools and thus the whole district.

The missing key to the governor’s positive test criteria is how will any school find out about any person’s positive test results?

Unless schools themselves test every person entering campus and maintain the results thereof, then the heath of everyone on site will be left up to parents reporting to the school the medical condition of their children. Certainly, the first thought of a parent with a sick child will be childcare and not to call the school to report it. And what about asymptomatic positives? Without testing they will never be found.

While we all want to return to the days prior to corona virus, we must keep in mind that our hope does not out weigh the fact that the corona virus is out there, people transmit it easily, unknowingly, and it will not stop simply because we wish it to.

It is also clear that even if a vaccine is produced, it will likely not be 100% effective and on top of that there may well be a large percentage of parents who will refuse it even if it were 100% effective.  That said, the new normal may be permanent distance learning for a large portion of our student population if, hopefully, being vaccinated becomes a requirement for in-class learning.  Developing a strong distance learning model is imperative.

AUSD needs to get real and go all in on distance learning now.  It is prudent to consider that the new normal for all of 2021 will likely be solely distance learning and to put all effort into making that model work.

Superintendent Anello said that many parents want in class teaching and that the social and emotional needs of the students are a major concern.  But in-class teaching may actually cause emotional harm, really.  Has it been explained to parents how in-class teaching will be done?  The students will be practically seat-belted into their chairs, they will not be able to touch anyone, share anything, or play in any groups, they even need to each their lunches alone at their desks.  They won’t be able to mix with their friends, before, during, or after school.  They will constantly be admonished to keep their masks on, don’t do that, stay over there, etc.

The governor requires that every school day, that  anyone entering the campus must receive and pass a health screen, what emotional toll will that take?  Will a student’s cohort’s parents be told that a classmate of their child didn’t pass the health screen, does AUSD plan to inform parents when that happens?  Since cohorts can’t be mixed, what is the protocol for when a teacher is absent?  Oh, and while the governor says that K-2 students are only encouraged to wear masks rather than being required to, mask wearing in public is required for everyone over the age of two, will AUSD require all K-12 students to wear masks?  The governor’s Pandemic Plan states that, “Over the course of the pandemic, most schools will likely face physical closure at some point…”, have the parents been informed that in-class learning will be variable and unpredictable at all levels from classroom, to school, to district?

I would really appreciate a reply to my questions, they are not rhetorical.

I believe that if all parents were provided with a clear picture of their child’s likely in-class learning experience and emotional challenges, that many of those parents who may have wanted in-class learning back in May would not feel that way now.

Sincerely,

Mark Hadox

Antioch Resident and Parent of AUSD graduates

Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) will host a telephone town hall to discuss coronavirus, the classroom, our community, and what comes next when school resumes in Contra Costa on Thursday, July 23rd at noon.

Congressman DeSaulnier will be joined on the call by Dr. Bill Walker, former Director of Health Services and current Director of Legislative and Governmental Affairs for Contra Costa Health Services, as well as Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey. During the event, Contra Costa residents will have an opportunity to ask questions about the upcoming school year and local districts’ plans for instruction.

Coronavirus, the Classroom, and our Community Telephone Town Hall
Thursday, July 23, 2020
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT

This event is open to the public.

To RSVP and submit a question, click here: https://tthm.wufoo.com/forms/teletownhall-with-congressman-mark-desaulnier/

By Allen Payton

During an announcement, today Governor Gavin Newsom said schools in counties not on the state’s monitoring list can reopen for in-person. But schools in counties on the monitor list must be off the list for 14 consecutive days before being able to reopen. According to a slide he shared, a total of 32 of the state’s 58 counties have been on the state’s monitoring list for 3+ days. Contra Costa continues to be on the state’s monitoring list of counties. The order includes both public and private schools.

“It’s very personal to me as a father of four, 10 years of age or younger, to the 6.15 million kids who are part of the public school education system and the 625,000 adults…who are looking forward to getting back to school…and us parents getting back to work…and to so many other responsibilities as parents and caregivers,” Newsom started off.

He spoke of and provided slides explaining the specific recommendations and guidance.

“Schools must provide meaningful instruction during this pandemic whether they are open…or not,” Newsom said.

He spoke of the health of school staff. “We have to have their backs, as well,” he stated. “Safety is foundational.”

Newsom then shared his Five Principles:

1. Safe in-person school based on local data
2. Mask requirements
3. Physical distancing + other adaptations
4. Regular testing + dedicated contact tracing
5. Rigorous distance learning

“Schools can physically open when the county they are operating in are off the state’s monitoring list for 14 consecutive days,” Newsom announced. ‘However, schools that don’t meet this requirement, they must begin the school year, this fall with distance learning.”

He then spoke of the other four principles.

“All school staff and students third grade and above must wear masks,” he stated. “Students second grade and below we encourage to wear masks or face shields.”

“On the physical distancing side, it’s incumbent upon staff to physically distance at least six feet,” Newsom said.

“The school day should start with symptom checks, temperature checks,” he continued.

Newsom spoke of requirements to test staff regularly, with the state contact tracing workforce of 10,000 people who will prioritize schools, according to one of the slides.

“Distance learning…access to devices. We have put up money for districts to purchase devices…to address this yawning gap in technology and connectivity,” he shared.

“We want to create a challenging environment where assignments are equivalent to what they would get in a classroom environment,” Newsom added.

He spoke of challenges with a breakout of the virus. If the school has cases of more than 5% positive, then we mandate that school close. If 25% of the schools in a district have 5% positive cases, the district must close all schools for 14 days, he explained.

“Learning remains non-negotiable. But neither is safety of all of our cohorts of support staff as well as our children,” Newsom said before sharing the latest statewide COVID-19 statistics.

“None of us want to see education virtualized, at least I don’t,” he said. “The one thing we have the power to do to get our kids back into school is, look at this list, again. Wear a mask, physically distance, wash your hands, minimize the mixing.”

“The more we do on this list and we do it on scale the quicker all those counties will get off the monitoring list…and those kids are back in school,” Newsom stated. “It’s incumbent upon us to practice…what we preach as individuals…to model the behavior that can actually extinguish this virus,”

“I saw one study…if every American wore a mask in just a number of weeks, we’ll have dramatically bent the curve,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s too much to ask.”

“Go to that covid19.ca.gov website…to learn more about these continuity plans, Local Continuity Attendance Plans (LCAP),” Newsom concluded before opening up for a question and answer session.