While COVID-19 rates are steadily decreasing throughout Santa Barbara County, it isn’t going fast enough for schools to reopen — so the Public Health Department is stepping in to help.
The Public Health Department is sending a letter of support to the state Public Health Department to endorse Santa Barbara Unified’s request to reopen and ask that they allow the district to reopen within seven days of the letter. The adjusted case rate, currently at 36.4, is the number of new cases per day for every 100,000 residents of the county averaged over a week. The state requires the adjusted case rate to be down to 25 or less to reopen elementary schools.
“Our rationale is that there are existing schools reopened under the waiver process in Santa Barbara, and they have been able to reopen safely while COVID rages around in the community,” county Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso explained to county supervisors on Tuesday. “The other piece is equity — disadvantaged students should have the same opportunities for in-person instruction as other schools in the same area.”