WONDERING
WONDERING WHAT THAT FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL WILL LOOK LIKE. WILL THEY BE OPEN CLOSE TO VIRTUAL A
COMBINATION OF BOTH DISTRICTS
AND ADMINISTRATORS STILL TRYING
TO FIGURE OUT A LOT RIGHT NOW.
AND PRESIDENT TRUMP PUSHES FOR
SCHOOLS TO REOPEN. GOVERNOR
NEWSOME IS PUSHING BACK SAYING
IT NEEDS TO BE LEFT UP TO LOCAL
DISTRICTS. CALIFORNIA SCHOOL
BOARDS ASSOCIATION'S TROY FLINT
JOINS US NOW THIS MORNING TO
DISCUSS THIS FURTHER. GOOD
MORNING TO YOU, TROY. GOOD
MORNING. THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
LET'S START WITH YOUR THOUGHTS
ON WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS
SAYING. HE TWEETED THAT HE MAY
WITHHOLD FEDERAL FUNDING FROM
SCHOOLS THAT DO NOT RESUME
IN-PERSON CLASSES THIS FALL.
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT? WE
UNDERSTAND THE PRESIDENT'S
URGENCY TO HAVE ON CAMPUS
INSTRUCTION RESUME AT SCHOOLS.
WE SHARE THAT URGENCY. WE WANT
TO GET STUDENTS BACK ON CAMPUS
BUT NOT AT ANY COST. WE WANT TO
MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE DO WE
INTRODUCE ON CAMPUS INSTRUCTION
THAT IT'S OCCURRING IN A SAFE
AND EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENT. AND
RIGHT NOW MOST SCHOOLS DO NOT
HAVE THE RESOURCES TO RETURN TO
SCHOOL IN A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE
MANNER AND REMOVING FUNDS FROM
SCHOOL WOULD NOT HELP IN
ACHIEVING A GOAL. IT WOULD
ACTUALLY BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE.
THE GOVERNOR SAYING THIS SHOULD
BE A DATA DRIVEN DECISION LEFT
UP TO THE LOCAL DISTRICTS. SO
DO YOU SUPPORT THAT ASSESSMENT?
WE AGREE WITH THE GOVERNOR THAT
ULTIMATELY EVERY SCHOOL
DISTRICT IS DIFFERENT. EVERY
COMMUNITY IS DIFFERENT. AND SO
LOCAL SUPERINTENDENTS
THE SCHOOL BOARD SHOULD BE
WORKING WITH TEACHERS AND STAFF
AND STUDENTS AND FAMILIES TO
ASSESS THEIR PARTICULAR
CONDITIONS AND MAKE A DECISION
.THAT'S RIGHT. FOR THEIR
PARTICULAR AREAS AND
COMMUNITIES. BUT WHILE DOING SO
THEY SHOULD HOLD HEALTH AND
SAFETY AS A PRIMARY GOAL AND
USE THOSE METRICS TO HELP GUIDE
THEIR DECISION. LET'S GET INTO
THE IMPACT ON THE BUDGET HERE.
I'VE GOT A LOT OF PARENTS
ASKING ME THEY'RE STILL NOT
SURE WHY IF LET'S SAY HALF
THE KIDS ARE STAYING HOME IN A
PARTICULAR DISTRICT, WHY THAT
WOULD COST THE DISTRICT MORE
MONEY. CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY
THERE ARE SO MANY DISTRICTS
DEMANDING MORE FUNDING TO BE
ABLE TO PULL THIS OFF? SO THERE
ARE A LOT OF COSTS. YOU HAVE
COSTS RELATED TO PPE TO
THE MASK AND OTHER EQUIPMENT
THAT HAVE TO BE OBTAINED. YOU
HAVE COSTS RELATED TO
SANITATION WHETHER IT'S
SANITATION STATIONS OR CLEANING
DEEP CLEANING THAT HAS TO OCCUR
MULTIPLE TIMES PER DAY. THERE
ARE COSTS RELATED TO DISTANCE
LEARNING BOTH IN TERMS OF
INQUIRED ACQUIRING AND
SERVICING COMPUTER DEVICES IN
TERMS OF MAKING ARRANGEMENTS TO
TRY AND GET BROADBAND ACCESS TO
STUDENTS WHO MAY NOT HAVE IT IN
THE HOME. YOU HAVE CONCERNS
ABOUT HEALTH AND SAFETY WITH
STAFF. THERE'S A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT OF LIABILITY THAT
DISTRICTS ARE INCURRING RIGHT
NOW. THERE ARE SO MANY COSTS
AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN ANTICIPATED
EVERYTHING THAT DISTRICTS MAY
ENCOUNTER SIMPLY BECAUSE SO
MUCH IS UNKNOWN ABOUT THIS
VIRUS AND SO MUCH OF
THE GUIDANCE THAT IS BEING PUT
FORTH BY STATE AND FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT IS CHANGING OR
SOMETIMES EVEN CONFLICTING WITH
OTHER DEPARTMENTS WITHIN
THE GOVERNMENT OR OR
INFORMATION THAT WAS PUT FORTH
JUST A COUPLE WEEKS PREVIOUSLY
WHERE THOSE DISTRICTS THAT ARE
RETURNING TO ON CAMPUS
INSTRUCTION OR CONTEMPLATING
THAT YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL COSTS
RELATED TO STAFFING BECAUSE IF
YOU IF YOU IMPLEMENT SOCIAL
DISTANCING AND YOU HAVE FEWER
TEACHERS IN EACH CLASSROOM,
THAT MEANS YOU GIVE YOUR
STUDENTS IN EACH CLASSROOM
RATHER THAT MEANS YOU'RE GOING
TO NEED MORE TEACHERS. IT MAY
MEAN YOU NEED MORE FACILITIES
SPACE OR PORTALS IF YOU HAVE
PORTABLES RATHER IF YOU HAVE
SOCIAL DISTANCING IMPLEMENTED
ON BUSES AND YOU HAVE FEWER
STUDENTS IN EACH ROW ON THE BUS
,THAT MEANS YOU'RE GOING TO
NEED NEW BUSES OR IT MEANS
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO RUN
MORE BUS CROWD WHICH MEANS
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE
MORE DRIVERS. THERE ARE SO MANY
DIFFERENT COSTS RELATED TO
STAFFING, RELATED TO
SANITATION, RELATED TO
TRANSPORT HAITIAN AND RELATED
TO JUST LOGISTICS INVOLVED WITH
GETTING KIDS BACK ON CAMPUS.
THERE'S REALLY NOT ENOUGH TIME
BETWEEN NOW AND MID-AUGUST WHEN
MOST SCHOOLS WOULD RESUME ON
CAMPUS INSTRUCTION. THERE'S NOT
ENOUGH SUPPORT OUT FROM
THE STATE OR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
I THINK ARE LESS STATE
LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR
HAVE TRIED HERE IN CALIFORNIA
BUT THEY'RE STARTING FROM A
VERY BAD PLACE. CALIFORNIA
PRIOR TO COPE IT RANKED 30 OUT
OF THE 50 STATES IN TERMS OF
PER PUPIL FUNDING. AND SO WE
WERE NEAR THE BOTTOM AND THAT'S
BEFORE THE PANDEMIC HIT. YEAH,
LIKE YOU SAID LIKE ARRIVE IT
BROUGHT WITH IT A LOT OF EXTRA
COSTS. YEAH, A LOT OF THINGS
CHANGE IN HERE TO RIDE A
BLOSSOMING UNIFIED INCURRED
ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS PER
STUDENT DURING THE LAST PART OF
THE 2019 20 SCHOOL YEAR. AND
IT'S ESTIMATED THAT THE AVERAGE
SCHOOL DISTRICT WILL INCUR AN
ADDITIONAL ONE POINT EIGHT
MILLION DOLLARS IN COSTS IN
2020 21 AND THE AVERAGE SCHOOL
DISTRICT IS ONLY EIGHT SCHOOLS
AND THIRTY EIGHT HUNDRED
STUDENTS. SO IF YOU TAKE A MUCH
LARGER SCHOOL DISTRICT LIKE SAN
DIEGO YOU'RE TALKING TENS OF
MILLIONS OF ADDITIONAL DOLLARS
TO RESPOND TO OVER 19 WHEN
SCHOOLS WERE ALREADY
UNDERFUNDED TO BEGIN. A LOT OF
CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR US, THAT'S
FOR SURE. TROY, THANKS FOR