Two weeks ago, the Orange County Board of Education gained national attention when it endorsed reopening public schools without social distancing or face masks.
Now, the board plans to file a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s public health officer, Sonia Y. Angell, asking that state orders be set aside that have most schools opening online in the fall.
The suit will seek in-person teaching and the resumption of campus activities. The board voted 4-0 during a closed session Tuesday night, July 28, to file the lawsuit.
“We have made the decision to put the needs of our students first by filing this lawsuit,” the board’s majority said in a statement.
Trustee Beckie Gomez, who attended part of the special meeting but was not present for the discussion and vote, did not support her colleagues
“We’ve kinda gone off track here,” she said in an interview Tuesday night. “We’re not doing the board’s work. Our job is to be focused on kids and education.”
On July 17, Newsom ordered that schools in counties on the state’s watch list for spikes in the coronavirus cases can’t immediately reopen with in-person classes in the new academic year.
That affects most of California’s public and private schools, including those in Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Schools can reopen in person only after their home county has been off the monitoring list for 14 consecutive days.
The board majority – Mari Barke, Tim Shaw, Lisa Sparks and Ken Williams – put out a statement at the end of its meeting:
“We believe that the July 17 order violates the constitutional rights of our students.”
Orange County trustees said that Newsom’s order does not ensure that children of working single parents or immigrant parents, who may not read and write English, are adequately educated or provided with the instruction and supervision they need.
“Further, the state has failed to address how high-risk students and those without adequate parental support will navigate the coming weeks and months through distance learning,” the statement says.
Board of Education members said the law firm Tyler & Bursch, with offices in Anaheim and Murrieta, will represent them for free.
In a statement issued by the law firm, Williams, the board’s president, said: “We understand the governor believes this is a difficult decision. But we reviewed the data and came to the logical conclusion that our schools can reopen with risk-mitigating efforts and safeguards provided by the state and local public-health agencies.
“We believe that the benefits of reopening schools outweigh the potential harm of children not being in the classroom,” Williams said in the statement.
The board recently made national news when it put out a report advocating that local schools should reopen normally without protective measures such as social distancing and face masks.
That board move was largely symbolic: It does not oversee Orange County’s 27 districts and cannot make any demands of its schools.
Instead, the elected board members are tasked with approving the annual budget of the Orange County Department of Education and other duties, including considering appeals on students’ transfers and suspensions as well as charter-school denials.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
"board" - Google News
July 29, 2020 at 08:22PM
https://ift.tt/334KCdZ
OC Board of Education to sue Newsom as it seeks the full reopening of schools - OCRegister
"board" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KWL1EQ
https://ift.tt/2YrjQdq
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "OC Board of Education to sue Newsom as it seeks the full reopening of schools - OCRegister"
Post a Comment