Here’s what the new California schools guidance means for Sonoma County students

Schools in Sonoma County will kick off the new academic year in about a month or less, and campus administrators are spending the waning weeks of summer break preparing for a return to the classroom unlike almost any other.

In everything from masks to ventilation systems to physical distancing, they are looking to state authorities for direction on how to return to in-person instruction safely.

The California Department of Public Health’s sudden about-face Monday on new masking guidance for next school year threw a new hitch into that planning.

The state’s requirement that all public K-12 students wear masks indoors on campus still stands today. But a stipulation that schools automatically exclude from campus any student who refuses to wear one without a proper exemption lasted just a few hours before the department pulled back, placing more autonomy in local schools’ hands.

“California’s school guidance will be clarified regarding masking enforcement, recognizing local schools’ experience in keeping students and educators safe while ensuring schools fully reopen for in-person instruction,” the agency said in a tweet before publishing its latest version late Monday.

To Santa Rosa City Schools Superintendent Anna Trunnell, the state shift, perhaps the fastest change yet during the COVID-19 era, allowed a few thoughts to crystallize in her mind.

On one hand, she was glad to have the opportunity to work out enforcement of the mask requirement at a local level. But she also hoped districts would be somewhat collaborative as they figure out their approach.

The announcement “gives us some pause to think about how we listen to our community,” she said, while staff continue to plan for the upcoming school year.

As school districts work out details of their safety protocols, the new state guidance offers some insight into what the start of the coming school year will look like for Sonoma County’s approximately 66,000 K-12 students.

Days of carefully separated desks with plexiglass barriers are likely behind us, as the state will no longer require distancing measures. And with a greater number of students allowed back into classrooms at once, they’ll have the opportunity to see more of their classmates throughout the week, since schools are poised to forgo the rotating schedules they used last spring during the mix schedule of in-person and remote instruction.

“I’m definitely really excited to get back in the classroom, given that there’s not some new outbreak, and to just see everyone all together,” said Andre Achacon, an incoming junior at Santa Rosa High School. He opted to stick with distance learning through the end of the last school year, making August the first time he’ll return to campus for classes since March 2020.

Achacon is vaccinated, and so are all of his close friends, he said. The peace of mind provided by his inoculation has made him more inclined to leave his mask behind during the summer, he said. That, coupled with the end of mask requirements at restaurants and in society, make it hard to think about reverting back to wearing one in school.

But without physical distancing and separate cohorts, Achacon thinks it makes sense to require masks, especially given that schools don’t know which students are vaccinated and which ones aren’t.

“If the health officials and people in our schools think that it’s best, I think that’s the best decision,” he said. “As a student body, we should definitely comply with that to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

He expects some of his peers might take bigger issue with it than he does, though.

Mayra Perez, superintendent of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, said she didn’t hear of much resistance to mask-wearing by students or parents last spring when students returned to their campuses part time.

If a student does object, school staff will work directly with the student and their guardian to work it out, she said.

For those who don’t want to or can’t wear a mask, or for students who may be medically vulnerable, online options will almost certainly continue to be available in their home district.

Cotati-Rohnert Park plans to continue to offer robust remote instruction options, Perez said. She described a virtual academy similar to what Matthew Harris, the Petaluma City Schools superintendent, is exploring for his district.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom and other officials have made clear their expectation that schools return to full in-person learning this fall, educators also anticipate the state will require schools to continue offering remote instruction.

The bill before the Legislature would require remote learning options in the form of independent study programs. If passed, the bill, a trailer to the state budget omnibus, will require schools to provide comprehensive independent study programs for at least a year, including requirements to track educational progress and daily “live interaction” with instructors.

“The bottom line is we want to make sure we can serve all students,” Harris said. “We’re trying to encourage all students to return, but we need to have an option for those students who for whatever reason need a virtual option.”

The superintendents for Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Cotati-Rohnert Park have no plans at this point gauge what share of their vaccine-eligible students have been inoculated against COVID-19 or track individual vaccination records. Vaccines are approved only for those 12 and older at this point, excluding tens of thousands of elementary students in the county.

County data from this week show 42.5% of youth aged 12 to 17 have been vaccinated.

Although that rate outpaces the statewide mark — 34.3% of the same age group — it still leaves more than half of eligible youth in Sonoma County unvaccinated.

While school officials work out how to enforce mask requirements, others are focused on ensuring schools honor exemptions for students who need in-person instruction but who may be medically unable to wear a mask.

Adam Stein, executive director of Sonoma County’s agency providing support and resources for special education, said his staff plans to work closely with school districts. They want to ensure students receiving special education to whom such exemptions apply are not unfairly excluded from on-campus classes.

“(If) this is an aspect of the student’s disability, you’re going to have to figure out how to accommodate it,” he said.

Andrea Quartarolo, a Rohnert Park mother to elementary-aged children, has other worries. She wants to check with her kids’ pediatrician to make sure they won’t be harmed by long hours in masks when they go back to school.

“It should be up to parents whether or not they want to send kids to school with a mask,” she said.

Dr. Brian Prystowsky, a Santa Rosa-based pediatrician who has been a vocal advocate for COVID-19 vaccinations, said he understands the questions on parents’ minds.

“To that mom, if she was to come into my office and say, ‘I’m worried,’ I would say, ‘I’m sorry. I hear you. It’s scary,’” Prystowsky said. “I don’t want our kids to be uncomfortable, but I really want our kids to go back to school. (And) we know masks work.”

The state health department advised schools masks are optional outdoors, meaning students will also almost certainly be allowed to remove their masks during recess or other times. Lunch periods would provide another opportunity.

School leaders said they know parents and students still have questions. Several said they aim to make more information available to families before the school year starts.

“I think it’s really important that people understand everything, in terms of how we’re preparing to support students and staff,” Trunnell said. “What we’re prepared to do and the why, and the how.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.