
The California Department of Public Health announced that they will suspend the implementation of the vaccine mandate in schools for the 2022-23 school year, and will only reconsider the mandate after the vaccine gets full FDA approval for school-age children.
- News

This California Department of Public Health policy memo provides up-to-date guidance to California’s k–12 schools on efforts to mitigate COVID-19 while maintaining in-person learning. In addition to standard mitigation strategies, the memo describes considerations for student mental and behavioral health, students with disabilities and other health care needs, higher-risk activities including large events, visitors to k–12 schools, and programs that offer residential components.
- Tools & School Guidance

California Governor Gavin Newsom has allotted $1.9 billion to support the state’s work to respond to COVID-19. The majority of the funding will be used to bolster testing, vaccination, and booster shots. This includes expanding hours and capacity at testing sites, distributing COVID-19 antigen tests to county offices of education and schools, and supporting in-home vaccination and testing programs for those unable to travel.
- News

This guidance from the state of California recommends a new group-tracing approach to replace contact tracing. The group-tracing approach allows for a quicker and broader response to cases identified in school settings, and involves notifying groups of students who spent more than 15 minutes with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 during their period of infectiousness. It also addresses implementing test-to-stay approaches for all exposed students. The website also contains a link to a sample notification letter that schools can adapt for their own use.
- Tools & School Guidance

An indoor mask mandate has been reinstated in San Diego Unified School District due to an increase in local COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates to the CDC’s “high” tier. The article links to a letter released by the district that may serve as a useful template for other districts considering reinstating mask mandates.
- News

This article documents how school districts have been using COVID-19 testing to detect infections early and reduce disruptions to learning. Strategies include regular, widespread COVID-19 testing; providing home testing kits to families for children to take before returning after the holiday break; and test-to-stay practices to keep exposed staff and students in school if they test negative for the virus. The article also discusses how some districts have been able to provide continuous instruction during widescale quarantines and the importance of planning for hybrid learning models.
- Tools & School Guidance

This California Department of Public Health publication lays out steps that event operators can take to protect attendees from COVID transmission during large events. Specific guidance for k–12 school events, such as assemblies and dances, includes splitting events by cohort (e.g., grade level) when possible, hosting events outdoors (and, in particular, serving any food and beverages outdoors), and considering a pre-event testing requirement for attendees.
- Tools & School Guidance

This website consolidates existing guidance; provides resources on funding, mitigation, and transparency; and explains the science behind the state’s reopening plan.
- Tools & School Guidance

At least 90 of the 600 students that attended prom at San Mateo High School got COVID. Masks were strongly recommended at the event, but many students opted not to wear them. Marin County also reported a COVID outbreak among students who returned recently from a field trip.
- News

Through this website, schools districts can apply to the California K-12 School Rapid Antigen Testing Program, which provides free testing supplies, training, and software to schools to support COVID-19 testing.
- Tools & School Guidance

This website includes free, evidence-based video and print resources to teach children mental health and coping skills to address a range of challenges, including stress from isolation, personal trauma, and learning challenges brought on by COVID-19. English- and Spanish-language resources address topics such as understanding feelings and thoughts, relaxation skills, managing intense emotions, and mindfulness.
- Virtual Training

California’s SMARTER Plan outlines steps to prepare for future COVID-19 threats. Steps include monitoring data and utilizing waste-water surveillance to identify variants earlier and expanding school-based vaccinations sites by 25%.
- Tools & School Guidance

Residents in the U.S. can order another 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests from the government at COVIDtests.gov, to be shipped to their homes. Households that did not order tests during the first round can receive 8 test kits.
- News

This press release describes how new state funding for in-person instruction and expanded learning will be distributed. It also includes a resource showing how much funding is available to each district.
- News

The number of California children diagnosed with COVID-19 during the omicron variant surge has skyrocketed, challenging earlier notions that the coronavirus largely bypassed children. Child vaccination rates are relatively low, and children who contract COVID-19 could be at increased risk for rare conditions and type 1, type 2, and other types of diabetes.
- News

This website profiles the reopening process in several California counties and school districts, and it includes a field guide to help districts develop their reopening plans.
- School Profiles

This research synthesis summarizes findings from international studies on the health and transmission rates of early childhood and elementary-age students. These students contract the virus at lower rates and have less severe symptoms.
- Research

This press release from California Governor Gavin Newsom's office details how the state is allocating funding for on-site rapid COVID-19 testing to those districts that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
- News

This press release explains the new California public health order for all k-12 public school staff, who must either provide proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing.
- News

This interactive map reveals which California districts are learning in-person, remotely, or in a hybrid format.
- Data

With roughly 7.2 million students and staff heading into and returning from spring break, California has distributed more than 14.3 million COVID-19 at-home tests to schools for students and staff to help minimize the spread of COVID-19.
- News

This COVID-19 data dashboard, updated daily, includes information on the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths at the county level. It also compares these numbers between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
- Data

This PDF provides a series of decision trees in use by San Diego County for their symptom screening and quarantine protocols that can be used as a model for other districts as well. It also lists appropriate test types and requirements to return to school.
- Tools & School Guidance

This guidance for school year 2021-22, released on July 12, builds upon the federal guidance but states that vaccinated students and staff should still wear masks because of the difficulty of tracking vaccination status and concerns about stigma and bullying.
- Tools & School Guidance

This study of seven California school districts identifies several themes and practices that aided their pandemic response. As the pandemic wore on, districts’ initial efforts expanded to address student and staff mental health, student engagement in online learning, adjustments of grading and graduation policies, and targeted services for students with high needs. Districts described proactive and consistent communication, efforts to build close ties with their local communities, and relationships within the district office and with County Offices of Education as among those that were particularly helpful.
- Research

This press release describes initial findings from a rapid on-site COVID-19 testing pilot program. Out of 3,256 tests conducted across 8 districts, only 7 tests (0.21%) came back positive.
- News

Governor Newsom Announces New $2.7 Billion COVID-19 Emergency Response Package | State of California
California’s $2.7 billion COVID-19 Emergency Response Package aims to bolster testing capacity, accelerate vaccination and booster efforts, support frontline healthcare workers, strengthen the health care system, expand contact tracing, and provide accurate information.
- News

This press release describes new state investments to support a return to in-person instruction and expanded learning, as well as vaccination priorities for teaching staff, data reporting requirements, and establishment of a State Safe Schools team to monitor outbreaks.
- News

To address the national surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order allowing temporary certificates to be issued to substitute teachers who do not have credentials. The order, which is in effect until March 31, also extends the length of time substitute teachers can be assigned to a class and allows more flexibility for retired teachers to work as substitutes.
- News

This guidebook offers a planning guide across four core areas (community health context, facilities and school operations, safe school environments, and cohorts for safe learning) to guide decision-making for in-person instruction.
- Tools & School Guidance

This webinar addresses how to use funding for literacy programs, student mental health and wellness, outdoor education programming, rapid COVID-19 testing, and more.
- Tools & School Guidance
- Virtual Training

This LPI brief describes reopening efforts in Marin County, CA, which offers examples of collaboration and communication among school districts, the county office of education, and the county health office.
- School Profiles

This study of 85 San Francisco community learning hubs, which were established to facilitate remote learning during building closures, found that multiple mitigation policies prevented most COVID-19 infection.
- Research

This press release describes findings from a rapid testing program conducted across more than 200 California schools. The study found that 90% of surveyed parents felt more confident about the safety of in-person learning when schools had a rapid COVID-19 testing program in place.
- Research

This research brief summarizes successful mitigation strategies across five California school districts during fall 2021. Strategies include universal testing, test-to-stay quarantine policies, and school-based vaccination clinics.
- School Profiles

How can schools reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic while prioritizing the health and well-being of their students, staff, and communities? This profile of San Diego County is one of several resources on the Resources for Reopening Schools website detailing how schools and local education agencies have successfully provided in-person instruction. The website is updated regularly to help inform educators and policymakers of the pressing issues in the time of COVID-19.
- School Profiles

This webpage includes links to several documents in both English and Spanish to support school staff, including decision trees and flyers that explain contact tracing procedures.
- Tools & School Guidance

This website, divided into separate pages for organizations, schools, and individuals, provides an overview of resources offered by the state of California to support testing sites.
- Tools & School Guidance

This resource includes video resources, developed in partnership with UCSF and UCLA, that will help schools implement safety guidance.
- Virtual Training

California encourages parents to test their children for COVID-19 as they return to school from break and to share the test results with their local health department. This website contains resources for parents, including a fact sheet with steps they should follow to conduct at-home COVID-19 testing as well as social media images and messages in English and Spanish for districts and schools to share.
- Tools & School Guidance

This news article describes the perspective of many California students on masking as the school year starts up.
- News