There’s a lot that is different this spring on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. It’s quieter, since coronavirus safety protocols restrict large gatherings, and the dorm common areas are often empty. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: On most weekdays, you can find Lavonda Little at Reid Hall, a four-story…
As the debate over how to safely reopen schools for full-time instruction rages on, school boards and districts should look no further than private schools and day-care facilities on how to reopen safely. With children languishing behind hours of screen time while the institutions charged with educating them remain virtual, parents and students deserve to…
April 11, 2021
How CA high schools plan to pull off ‘normal’ graduations
Hurtling toward the end of a hectic year, most K-12 and high school districts in California are intensely focused on reopening campuses and giving the Class of 2021 a final send-off to remember in June. The goal and operating assumption, many district administrators say, is they can do an in-person graduation, where seniors can walk across…
April 11, 2021
UTLA teachers’ latest demand: Free child care
CA teachers are ready to go back to the classroom. But the state’s largest union has a new ask: free child care for their own kids. The demand is salt in the wound for parents who struggled with distance learning at home amid intense reopening negotiations that have dragged on for a year. As part…
A lawsuit by three San Diego County charter school networks that said they were wrongfully denied state funding now represents all 308 of California’s charter schools that provide online, home school and other nontraditional learning. Sacramento Superior Court Judge James Arguelles granted the plaintiffs in Reyes v. State of California class-action status in a recent…
A little-known Education Code provision has allowed some small school districts to collect millions of dollars in fees from online charter schools. But a new ruling in the A3 charter school case could strictly limit how much districts can charge in fees. A universal rule of lawmaking: What seem to be the tiniest and most…
High school juniors and seniors are starting to be vaccinated against COVID-19—a watershed moment in the pandemic for schools. More than 30 states have already opened vaccine eligibility to those 16 and up, and most others plan to do so in the coming days or weeks. In many states, teenagers and young adults now seem…
As districts move to offer more in-person learning this spring, many teachers, parents and students remain hesitant, worrying whether schools — and their specific campuses and classrooms — are safe. This is especially true for families of color. In Los Angeles, less than a third of surveyed families plan to return in person. But officials…
CASBO has announced that Jennifer Marrone will be the next San Diego/Imperial Section State Director. Jennifer is the food services business manager for the San Diego Unified School District. Jennifer volunteered to serve out the remaining term of our recently elected Vice President Tina Douglas and ran unopposed for the position. Jennifer’s term of service…
Long Beach Unified is facing a worrying but all-too-familiar problem: Finding enough qualified teachers, or even substitutes, to fill what some experts see as a growing shortage in the midst of an unpredictable pandemic. This year, leaves of absences in Long Beach increased by 35 percent, and fewer than half of its 1,100-member substitute pool…