February 5, 2021
Governor Gavin Newsom
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Speaker Anthony Rendon
State Capitol, Room 219
Sacramento, CA 95814
President pro Tempore Toni Atkins
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Subject: Expanding In-Person Instruction in California's Schools
Dear Governor Newsom, Speaker Rendon and President pro Tempore Atkins:
On behalf of the undersigned statewide educational organizations, we write to lend
support to your ongoing discussions on how to safely reopen schools for in-person
instruction. We embrace the dialogue occurring statewide between school board
members, administrators, school employees, parents, local communities and
policymakers. With our students in mind, we share the common goal of safely
reopening our schools.
The circumstances of the past 11 months have not been good for our most vulnerable
students. The opportunity gap widens by the day. Low-income communities and
communities of color are among the hardest hit by this pandemic, yet their campuses
remain shuttered. The mental health of students (and educators) continues to worsen.
Reports of suspected child abuse have plummeted while students are in distance
learning. If schools do not have a path to in-person instruction this spring, California will
face an exponentially steeper road to reopening in the fall.
As educational leaders, we are ready to focus our collective efforts on a strategy that
safely reopens schools for in-person instruction.
Safety is non-negotiable.
To build the trust necessary to reopen schools, safety and in-person instruction must be
one and the same. The careful implementation of mitigation strategies (e.g., facial
