Expansion of Safe, In-Person Classroom Instruction

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

This week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a $6.6 billion package that will help continue and expand safe, in-person instruction in schools across California.

Senate Anthony J. Portantino (D-La Canada) released the following statement regarding legislation to return California students back to their classrooms:

"Resuming in-person instruction is critical for children and their families. Being back in the classroom means that we will be able to meet the learning needs, as well as the mental health and social-emotional needs, of our students. Today's agreement is an important step forward in getting more of our kids back into the classroom.

The $6.6 billion agreement will create safe learning environments for students and safe workplaces for educators and administrators.  It also prioritizes and accelerates vaccinations for education workers. With support from state health officials, school districts will have the flexibility to create the in-person education plan that works for them, while providing families the option of continuing remote learning."

Public schools throughout the state will be allocated $6.6 billion under the proposed budget package. $2 billion would fund safety measures to support in-person instruction, such as personal protective equipment, ventilation upgrades and COVID-19 testing. $4.6 billion would fund expanded learning opportunities, such as summer school, tutoring and mental health services.

Expanded Learning Opportunities Grants will allocate $4.6 billion to local educational agencies based on the equity-based Local Control Funding Formula, with an additional $1,000 for each homeless student. These funds would be for supplemental instruction and support for social and emotional well-being. Schools would be able to use the funds for providing more instructional time, such as summer school, and accelerating progress to close learning gaps through tutoring, learning recovery programs, mental health services, access to school meal programs, programs to address pupil trauma and social-emotional learning, supports for credit-deficient students and more.

In addition to funding for schools to safely reopen, the package also codifies multiple successful state programs to support safe school re-openings:

• Vaccine Prioritization for K-12 School Staff. The package codifies the Governor's commitment to set aside 10 percent of vaccines for education workers. This commitment ensures the state prioritization of school staff, in place since January, is executed in all 58 counties. Since the Governor's announcement two weeks ago, the state has collaborated with county health departments, the Biden Administration and health providers such as Kaiser Permanente to accelerate vaccine access for K-12 school staff starting March 1.
• State Safe Schools Team. The package also allocates $25 million to the State Safe Schools Team, which will provide technical assistance, oversight and accountability to the over 10,000 public schools in the state. This capacity will enhance the Team's outreach and work with school districts.

For more information, please visit: https://schools.covid19.ca.gov/.

Hon. Anthony J. Portantino

Senator, District 25