>> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. hi there, i'm kristen sze. welcome to our daily programmed called "getting answers". we have california state school superintendent tony thurman, always great to have you here. i know it's a busy time with you with all the kids going back to school. and so many changes. so thank you. >> thank you. great to be on. thank you. >> superintendent, i want to start with what grade, i know, but you know. what grade do you give california schools in the first few weeks of the school year, this new school year, that's of course, so different than any school year we've ever seen?

>> i want to commend to make this happen. certainly "a" for effort. i've listened to zooms, my own kids. everyone is leaning in and really trying to make being in a place where 97% of our schools are opening in distance learning, they're really trying to work. i would say that there are definitely some challenges that have not cooperated and my heart goes out, at one point, asked the remaining 30,000 students who opened in distance learning but yet, they big challenges in northern california and other parts of the state but everyone is leaning in to make this work. i hear teachers with great content. i think this is really hard. nothing about this that is easy

but i have to commend those students and educators and school staff and families who are just leaning in, trying to make the most of the situation that we're in. >> yeah, you're right. that wildfire interruption, that is so difficult. i do want to ask you, synchronized learning seems to be going well. that seems to be the consensus. what do you think hasn't gone as well? if that's the good, which is everybody's doing a lot more synchronous, then what is the bad? >> one of the weeks when the wildfire has started, we got word from a lot of districts in the state they couldn't get zoom to work and there was some kind of a worldwide issue with zoom. so sometimes the devices or i should say internet or zoom has been unreliable at times. sometimes there's hot spots that don't work and i've heard those kind of complaints. i think everyone is trying to figure out, you know, a lot of schools are set up, students are in school and distance learning

from say, 10:00 to 3:00 and some of that time is live instruction and some is in the breakout groups. i hear teachers try to figure out how to make the breakout groups work but i hear everyone trying to lean in. we surveyed over 300 teachers to ask them about distance learning last time. what worked and what didn't work and gave about how to keep students engaged. there's definitely bumps around some of the technology and fire created huge challenges to really commend the school districts and educators in those evacuation areas. take care of safety first. again, kristen, i think in spite of bumps, people are leaning in. people lean in.in.in.in.in.in.i.

>> governor newsom how much of california and the areas where people can open up all schools with no waivers and then which areas are apply and do the waiver. >> they're opening in distance learning. most schools are open, a few are opening this week. expect around labor day grades kindergarten through sixth grade but in the last week or so, the department of public health has released new guidance that creates a scenario where schools can bring back small

numbers of students, a ratio of 2 adults to 14 students. this is really intended to support students who absolutely need in-person instruction, perhaps students with disabilities and students served in special education and as you point out on friday, the governor announced a brand-new system that talks about when schools can get off the monitoring list and when they can open. it creates more time that schools have to wait but it does create a system that says, let's be safe before schools open up again. >> i want to share this comment on twitter with you. it was really a question of something else. what do you plan to do to get special ed students back to school safely, regression has begun for many. i know you pay close attention to the learning laws. the special ed kids back to campus? >> it creates an option. >> we've been hearing the stories with families who struggle for students who serve

in special education. some regression and some with troub trouble, the department of public health with small cohorts. that's intended to serve groups like students with disabilities and students in special education who need additional support. that just got released midweek last week. at the same time, we do understand and my heart goes out to the family and parents in special education. we hear you, we understand work and need more support. we hear you, acknowledge >> london breed unveiled the timeline for the city, mentioned that k through 6 schools could probably start by mid september and mid october, those who did

not aplply for a waiver not ope for high school since they're like adults in the way they respond to covid but also mentioned learning hubs. opening learning hubs in a couple of weeks. what are those? are those what you're talking about what they just allowed for? >> the small groups can be in-pers in-person, the in-person distance learning overall but might use other spaces for small numbers of students that come on campus and they might find they're working with the substitute teacher or a classified staff person so there's some adults working with students and the teachers providing if work remotely through other caring adults working with the students they

have hybrid models in place. most know the date where they could potentially get off on the monitoring list. >> it set up for schools to do but we have to do our part and continue to wear face mask. >> in the meantime, the waiver process is moving forward. in santa clara county, in particular, i think that's the most applications. 58 private schools applied.

any school including a private school basically found a way to get around the rules to open. you know, don't call yourself, there have been examples where schools called themselves, not school but some kind of child care and this was a high school. that was a call i made myself to the california department of health to say this is an enforcement issue, let's really not skirt the rules in ways that make everybody safe. that means you can set a date within days and weeks for when a school can open again for in-person instruction. others in counties where the case rate is so high, may not van immediate date. we can track when we think it's safe to reopen. so again, we're keeping an eye out for any school, including private schools, that are somehow skirting the rules, many

of the public schools are struggling to want to open. we want it to be fairness and safety for all and make sure the rules are enforced consistently across the board. >> all right, because you're watching to make sure that's happening. all right. superintendent thurman, we'll take a short

we're back with state school superintendent to talk about how the school year is as you know, most schools are still doing distance learning but some schools , working really hard with the various stake holders to ensure that everybody feels good about their situation

situation, if teachers don't feel safe, should the schools require they return? >> this is one of the toughest issues we're going to encounter. i know a lot of schools have said that teachers have to end their classrooms even though they provide learning and other teachers groups pushed back and said they don't feel it's safe to do so. i understand the concerns those teachers have made. the most important thing, the dialogue has to continue to take place and we have to be understanding. we have the ability to work by remote. look at different ways to arrange their work. many times, it's a matter of rotating a schedule to come in to minimize the number of people sharing a space or even sharing the air. so we've got to be thoughtful about that.

especially underlying health conditions more subjective to the impacts of covid-19. >> most of them, not a lot but they tend to be the private schools and as we covered earlier, in terms of applying for the waivers, and since those schools are not typically union, i don't think, what protection is there in place that do work in the private schools and what if they don't feel >> i'm not very familiar students in our schools got to do things that make sense. a public or private school. cherish the safety and well being of all students and staff. right now, distance learning and remote learning is the best

thing we can do for them. >> well, the governor has said you're supposed to test every two months. the staff, that is. >> the guidance was testing, created a way that school districts basically do and then get reimbursed through the health insurance of the students and the families. testing is very new and many school districts are figuring out, some of the larger districts aggressive programs in place. this is an area we work closely with the state department of public health and our county health officers to get the testing intervals figured out right. >> i wonder if it would make

sense to get counties to issue some sort of guidance and take on some of the tests. >> they've done testing in the community. drive-up testing opportunities. our counties have leaned in, have to give great support to the county public health departments and our county health officers, the way it worked.

making sure they are testing at a regular interval. >> what if all the schools do the right thing, they open but there's some cases or an outbreak and maybe somebody blames the schools. who is >> the california legislature just finished the cycle late last night. let's do all we can around prevention. if we focus on liability, that

means someone's gotten hurt. let's do what we can around prevention, right now, distance learning. we can't control covid but we can control how we respond to covid. proven in science to keep us safe. >> keep going as the

some schools are open for in-person learning. the first to open in the bay area school. pastor chris, how are you? you welcomed students back last thursday. first to get the waiver approved, you're doing it.

>> it's all worth it because this is one of the situations where the values of our faith community and civic government go hand and glove. safety protocols are a safe and a pain sometimes but we're happy to be in compliance and go beyond them. >> what do they have to follow? >> parents stay in the car. they sign in through an app, the child's temperature is taken.

wear a face mask at all times, except when eating and drinking, sometimes playground activities, exertion, and teachers wear face masks, all times. all the playground equipment. cleaning of classrooms. no intermingling with other classes. students stay together with teachers and support teacher. it's very different but it's working and so far, and four days of great learning and in class learning and the kids love it. the parents love it. and the teachers love it. they believe this is what they were meant to do.

>> looks to be where kids are eating. is that right? >> yes, they can eat there requirements, reopening statement. whiff some classes that outside. the air quality is moderate and we have kids meet outside which is good and recently installed air purifiers in each classroom for the health of our children. >> how do you keep kids from getting too close? how do you ensure social distancing when they're using shared spaces such as the playground, you know, or an outdoor table where they're maybe having lunch?

how do you deal with that? >> we have little marks on the tables where there's a set. make sure they're six feet apart. staff overseeing them all the time. not possible to ensure 100% of social distancing. >> you are a k through 5 school. how many students total do you have on campus? >> another section of our campus but we're a small school. 58 kids and i should mention, kristen, all private schools, especially are going through some hard times because there's fears of covid-19. parents who don't pay tuition when it's online learning.

this is one of the reasons why we're so happy to be back in the classroom and we anticipate getting the influx of some more students. >> we've got a couple of new students since we reopened and our phones are ready and waiting. abc did a news on our second day of opening and they did a great job encouraging people, we're open, available, providing quality christian education. >> did you have any kids who did not want to come back on campus and if you did, how are you educating those students?

online learning and classroom learning. some have chosen. they're not quite ready to come back. there's some understandable and we believe god's time is best for everyone. there's no pressure. we're happy to serve those who are ready to come back. and those who aren't ready, some are using the public school online. >> i see. are you providing them packets or checking them over zoom or anything like that? >> we keep in touch with them but we really can't wo work. >> as part of getting the waiver. i know you have to address how you would handle any cases, and also, testing and contact tracing. tell us how you guys are handling that? >> oh my goodness. there are so many protocols in place for handling that.

we have them published on our web site. one of the things we just put out for our staff is our staff has to get tested for covid-19 every couple of months. making sure our staff is healthy, they stay healthy and then for the children, we take their temperatures daily, monitor them. any case of covid or symptoms, we call the doctor. >> pastor, thank you for your

that's going to do it for now. thank you for joining us on this interactive "getting answers" show. today we talked with state