ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) – Governor Gavin Newsom is in Alameda County on Tuesday to visit an elementary school and share school reopening efforts.
The governor’s office said 9,000 schools statewide should be open in the next few weeks, if they aren’t already. This comes after Newsom signed a bill to encourage swift school reopening with financial incentives for local districts.
The $6.6 billion package funds safety measures for in-person instruction, including vaccinations for educators and personal protection equipment.
As part of the deal, schools that open later than April 1 will get fewer cash grants, and districts that don’t open by May 15 would lose all of the incentivized funding.
“This package of funding and supports for our schools recognizes that in-person education is essential to meet not only the learning needs, but the mental health and social-emotional needs of our kids – especially the youngest and the most vulnerable,” Newsom had said when the deal was final.
During the speech, Newsom mentioned they are tracking six COVID-19 variants in the state. Earlier, Contra Costa County reported it discovered its first cases of the UK variant.
There’s also the Brazilian variant and the South African variant — the latter of which has already been found in the Bay Area.
But he also mentioned a hopeful statistic, saying that California’s statewide average percent positivity rate for COVID-19 has dropped to 1.8%.
