ARTICLE
Schools Out For Summer Hopefully Not Forever Do you recall the sounds of summer’s past with memorable songs like Alice Cooper’s Schools Out for Summer. The lyrics ring true today. “Well We got no choice, All the girls and boys, Makin’ all that noise, ’Cause they found new toys, Well we can't salute ya can't find a flag, If that don't suit ya that's a drag, School’s out for summer, School’s out forever School's been blown to pieces.” Well, in the COVID-19 Summer of 2020, school is really out for what may seem like ‘forever.’ Public and private schools in Santa Cruz County will start the academic year with online-only education due to the county’s recent uptick of confirmed COVID-19 cases, county office of education leaders said. With three weeks until classes start, details on that approach are unclear in some school districts. The county office of education’s decision to delay school reopening followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s release Friday of new state guidelines for schools. Counties that have been flagged by the state public health department for increased COVID cases or hospitalizations cannot reopen schools for at least two weeks. The Governor’s statewide order leaves the final decision to the local school districts. “The virus will be with us for a year or more, and school districts must provide meaningful instruction in the midst of this pandemic,” Newsom said in a statement. State mandates Friday also included: > Students in grades 3-12 must wear masks at school. > People who enter schools must be screened for health. > School staff should be COVID tested periodically based on local trends and test capacity. > The state will provide resources for COVID contact tracing in schools. This is a hard decision for any school district leader to make and must now find a way to use online education tools to continue the school year as best they can for the benefit of the students. The announcement comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom put forward a statewide mandate requiring all schools in counties on California’s COVID-19 “watch list” to keep students out of classrooms when the school year begins. Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties are the only two in the wider Bay Area and Central Coast regions that have yet to fall on that watch list. As of Monday afternoon, Santa Cruz County remained off the watch list — at least, officially. But local and state data now show per-capita coronavirus cases have crossed the key threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 residents during a 14-day period, triggering the county’s expected addition to the group of more severely impacted jurisdictions. Education officials said they understand that Santa Cruz County’s addition to the watch list is now all but inevitable, and Monday’s announcement reflects that they are planning accordingly. In a Santa Cruz Sentinel story on this matter, “We recognize that there is a delay between when the data is gathered and when counties actually appear on the list,” said county Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah. “… Instead of waiting until we would get on the list, which could be a few days to maybe even a week or two from now, we thought that it was more prudent and in the best interest of our community to let them know right now that we have already met the criteria.” This shift to online education impacts all of us — especially those parents who have to find ways to balance work and take care of their children at home — with proper childcare and ‘after school hours’ during the day. Also impacted are high school athletes who are eager to continue their athletic activities that can lead to their future educational pursuit beyond high school. As COVID-19 cases continue to increase around the state and with in-school instruction in serious jeopardy, Monday’s decision by the California Interscholastic Federation to postpone all fall sports to the winter was necessary. But that doesn’t mean it’s fair to the athletes. One group of athletes that are immediately impacted are football players heading into their senior year. As Sentinel sport reporter, Dieter Kurtenbach, notes in his Wednesday article and the seniors most affected by the change, are those that want to continue their playing careers in college and were counting on their performances this upcoming season to make that dream a reality. “And make no mistake, that’s a larger group than you might think here in the Bay Area. The region isn’t giving Texas, Florida, or even Southern California a run for its money (in some cases literally) with high school football talent, but it’s no backwater town, either. In the Bay Area, which includes Santa Cruz County and the Central Coast, there are plenty of late bloomers, injured juniors, recent transfers, and kids who waited their turn and were set to get their shot in 2020. The earliest the California high school football season could start is in December, but that is the same month as the NCAA’s football early signing period. That means by the time some of these under-the-radar seniors play their full final campaign, putting together enough game film to show they’re worthy of playing big-time college football, there might not be many available roster spots at schools around the country. Unless other big football playing states follow California’s lead in delaying the season or the NCAA changes it's recruiting calendar, players in the Golden State are at a massive disadvantage. Why is this important to the business community, at large? If you have ever attended a high school football, basketball or volleyball game — so much of the school’s energy is directly related to the various high school sport programs and other after school activities that drive the student’s enthusiasm and show a school pride through participation. And those programs are more than a sporting event, they are a community event, a fund raiser the school and that reflects on the spirit of the greater community. As Alice Cooper’s song reminds us for now, “No more pencils no more books, No more teacher's dirty looks, Out for summer, Out till fall, We might not come back at all, School’s out forever, School’s out for summer, School’s out with fever, School’s out completely.” Let’s hope that the winter school year will come back to life as we know it, the spirit of the community depends on it and the potential future for a student athlete lays in the balance with a dream of furthering their college education through sports.
Do you recall the sounds of summer’s past with memorable songs like Alice Cooper’s Schools Out for Summer. The lyrics ring true today. “Well We got no choice, All the girls and boys, Makin’ all that noise, ’Cause they found new toys, Well we can't salute ya can't find a flag, If that don't suit ya that's a drag, School’s out for summer, School’s out forever School's been blown to pieces.”
Well, in the COVID-19 Summer of 2020, school is really out for what may seem like ‘forever.’ Public and private schools in Santa Cruz County will start the academic year with online-only education due to the county’s recent uptick of confirmed COVID-19 cases, county office of education leaders said. With three weeks until classes start, details on that approach are unclear in some school districts.
The county office of education’s decision to delay school reopening followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s release Friday of new state guidelines for schools. Counties that have been flagged by the state public health department for increased COVID cases or hospitalizations cannot reopen schools for at least two weeks. The Governor’s statewide order leaves the final decision to the local school districts. “The virus will be with us for a year or more, and school districts must provide meaningful instruction in the midst of this pandemic,” Newsom said in a statement.
State mandates Friday also included:
> Students in grades 3-12 must wear masks at school. > People who enter schools must be screened for health. > School staff should be COVID tested periodically based on local trends and test capacity. > The state will provide resources for COVID contact tracing in schools.
This is a hard decision for any school district leader to make and must now find a way to use online education tools to continue the school year as best they can for the benefit of the students. The announcement comes days after Gov. Gavin Newsom put forward a statewide mandate requiring all schools in counties on California’s COVID-19 “watch list” to keep students out of classrooms when the school year begins.
Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties are the only two in the wider Bay Area and Central Coast regions that have yet to fall on that watch list. As of Monday afternoon, Santa Cruz County remained off the watch list — at least, officially. But local and state data now show per-capita coronavirus cases have crossed the key threshold of 100 cases per 100,000 residents during a 14-day period, triggering the county’s expected addition to the group of more severely impacted jurisdictions.
Education officials said they understand that Santa Cruz County’s addition to the watch list is now all but inevitable, and Monday’s announcement reflects that they are planning accordingly. In a Santa Cruz Sentinel story on this matter, “We recognize that there is a delay between when the data is gathered and when counties actually appear on the list,” said county Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah. “… Instead of waiting until we would get on the list, which could be a few days to maybe even a week or two from now, we thought that it was more prudent and in the best interest of our community to let them know right now that we have already met the criteria.”
This shift to online education impacts all of us — especially those parents who have to find ways to balance work and take care of their children at home — with proper childcare and ‘after school hours’ during the day.
Also impacted are high school athletes who are eager to continue their athletic activities that can lead to their future educational pursuit beyond high school. As COVID-19 cases continue to increase around the state and with in-school instruction in serious jeopardy, Monday’s decision by the California Interscholastic Federation to postpone all fall sports to the winter was necessary. But that doesn’t mean it’s fair to the athletes. One group of athletes that are immediately impacted are football players heading into their senior year.
As Sentinel sport reporter, Dieter Kurtenbach, notes in his Wednesday article and the seniors most affected by the change, are those that want to continue their playing careers in college and were counting on their performances this upcoming season to make that dream a reality. “And make no mistake, that’s a larger group than you might think here in the Bay Area. The region isn’t giving Texas, Florida, or even Southern California a run for its money (in some cases literally) with high school football talent, but it’s no backwater town, either. In the Bay Area, which includes Santa Cruz County and the Central Coast, there are plenty of late bloomers, injured juniors, recent transfers, and kids who waited their turn and were set to get their shot in 2020.
The earliest the California high school football season could start is in December, but that is the same month as the NCAA’s football early signing period. That means by the time some of these under-the-radar seniors play their full final campaign, putting together enough game film to show they’re worthy of playing big-time college football, there might not be many available roster spots at schools around the country.
Unless other big football playing states follow California’s lead in delaying the season or the NCAA changes it's recruiting calendar, players in the Golden State are at a massive disadvantage.
Why is this important to the business community, at large? If you have ever attended a high school football, basketball or volleyball game — so much of the school’s energy is directly related to the various high school sport programs and other after school activities that drive the student’s enthusiasm and show a school pride through participation. And those programs are more than a sporting event, they are a community event, a fund raiser the school and that reflects on the spirit of the greater community.
As Alice Cooper’s song reminds us for now, “No more pencils no more books, No more teacher's dirty looks, Out for summer, Out till fall, We might not come back at all, School’s out forever, School’s out for summer, School’s out with fever, School’s out completely.”
Let’s hope that the winter school year will come back to life as we know it, the spirit of the community depends on it and the potential future for a student athlete lays in the balance with a dream of furthering their college education through sports.