SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – Despite the surge in cases and hospitalizations here in San Francisco, some representatives and doctors are saying schools should still reopen as soon as they can.

Assemblymember Phil Ting, along with Senator Scott Wiener and Assemblymember David Chiu sent letters to superintendents in their district, calling on them to re-open schools as soon as possible.

They sent letters to San Francisco Unified School District, San Mateo County Office of Education, and more, urging for plans to be made.

Based on the data from schools that have already begun in-person learning in the Bay Area, they say schools are actually one of the safer places to reopen during the pandemic.

While coronavirus cases are surging in San Francisco, Ting and doctor Jeanne Noble who’s the director of COVID response at UCSF say schools are one of the relatively safer places to reopen.

Noble’s been advising bay area schools on safe re-opening strategies and evaluating the impact on schools that have chosen to do so.

Noble says Marin County’s school system picked up 30 total cases within the school population from school screening, which has been effective.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, some private schools already returned to the classroom, but students at public schools are expected to return in phases starting January 25th.

SFUSD made the January target date before San Francisco slid back into the purple tier, but the school district says there haven’t been any changes to that plan.

While SFUSD is working on plans at the moment, Assemblymember Ting says he wants to keep the fire under these school districts.

With more rollbacks to come, he says students and schools should be prioritized when it comes to opening and staying open.

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