The state decides it won’t require COVID vaccines for children this fall, and a bill to mandate kids vaccines without personal belief exemptions stalls out.
COVID K-12
Posted inK-12 Education
California senator proposes checks for low-income, homeless high school seniors
A state senator wants to send no-strings-attached checks to homeless high school seniors in California, where basic income programs are beginning to “feel a lot more like a movement.”
Posted inK-12 Education
Welcome to the TK challenge: Transitional kindergarten comes with benefits to families, difficulties for administrators
California’s transitional kindergarten program is expanding to include all 4-year-olds by 2025-26. Santa Cruz County school officials say this is going to be a challenge, but that it will have an overall positive impact on families and schools.
Posted inK-12 Education
How do Santa Cruz kids and parents feel about the end of mask mandates?
Mask mandates are set to end in schools after Friday, and Santa Cruz parents and kids have mixed feelings about the return to normalcy following two years of pandemic-induced restrictions. Kids are ready to see each others’ faces, but remain worried about catching COVID-19. Lookout talked to students at Santa Cruz High and Gault Elementary schools.
Posted inK-12 Education
Q&A: School superintendent Faris Sabbah says parents need to stop bullying teachers over mask mandates
Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah says Santa Cruz County parents are bullying teachers, upsetting staff and filing claims against school districts for enforcing mask mandates. Parents have bombarded schools with hundreds of “threatening messages” and angry emails and have had heated, in-person exchanges with teachers and office staff. How tough a response are the schools mounting? Sabbah describes it in detail.
Posted inHealth & Wellness
How effective are COVID-19 vaccines for children 5-11? New data offer some answers
Data show vaccines are effective against hospitalizations, although effectiveness against infection does wane. But that’s not surprising.
Posted inK-12 Education
Is it safe to lift indoor mask rules in California schools? Here’s what health experts say
California’s strict indoor mask rules at schools have helped prevent major coronavirus outbreaks on campuses.
Posted inK-12 Education
California lifts school mask mandate after March 11; still ‘highly recommended’ in Santa Cruz County
After Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the relaxing of mask mandates for K-12 schools after March 11, Santa Cruz County schools said they would follow suit, with masks no longer required but “highly recommended” after that date amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted inCOVID 2022
COVID-19 updates in Santa Cruz County: Infections, hospitalizations, deaths and demographic data
New Leaf Community Markets brand manager Lindsay Gizdich said the store is moving from Pacific Avenue in order to have…
Posted inHealth & Wellness
CDC: Masks can come off in schools unless COVID metrics are high
Though the state of California isn’t aiming to revisit its guidance on masks in schools until next week, the federal government on Friday gave most schools the OK to go without.