lyanne: i want to ask.i know has tested positive for covid, i feel anxious. i cannot imagine how kids who are entering the classroom must feel. there must be some anxiety. as parent, what do i tell my child? why tell them to be safe, be careful, wash your hands? what message do you want to tell parents? dr. garcia: i think all of those things are really important and we have to remember that covid has been around for a while. kids have been living with covid for a while just like all of us have. i think what dr. patel mentioned about making a part of the family, part of routine, we talk about safety, putting on a mask -- if you are able to get vaccinated and able to maintain different protocols, i would suggest doing everything you can and modeling for your kids what is important about mask wearing. it is like dressing your teeth -- brushing your teeth. kids will take to that well and if they hear it that some of their friends are sick, i think as they follow the science, talk to them and let them know that

lyanne melendez talks about the resolution. reporter: here's the resolution that's being introduced tonight this after some teachers startsed to complain about not having test sights that work with their schedules. a petition is circulating and it now has more than 1300 signatures to insure weekly on sight covid testing. >> olivia utivic is an oakland teacher that is fully vaccinated that will now happen after oakland unified agreed to follow the lead of other districts to mandate the covid vaccine. those teachers who opt out will have to be tested which for oak land students an staff can be a challenge. >> i tried to go get a test this weekend for myself and my family. my kids just to be safe going into the first day, and couldn't find anything through usd. >> i've heard 9:00 to 4:00. i've heard from the community that they couldn't get tested over the weekended >> that's school board member mike hutchinson who has introduced a resolution to require covid testing at all oakland school sights similar to what berkley unified alr

lyanne: leanne melendez, abc 7 news.his month johnson & johnson announced it is also taking steps for the pediatric trial of its vaccine in the fall. if you have questions about covid-19 vaccines, you can ask the abc 7 vaccine team. we have been looking at the return to the classroom all this week, and these are just a few of the topics we have covered. can find all our content on our streaming app by searching abc 7 bay area. tomorrow we will be holding an education town hall discussion about what is expected this year with covid still here. reggie: a big win-win with artists in west africa cleaning trash on the beach, making a lot of money. this ivory coast artist walks the beach collecting trash flip-flops. he collects the scraps and makes art nearly at $1000 each. the art is now hanging in galleries throughout the world. kumasi: and it looks good. reggie: it does. i like it. kumasi: cool. mike: we should get some for in here. reggie: a reminder -- who are these people who wear flip-flops on the plane? mike: you had t

lyanne melendez joins us with a look at the implications. >> reporter: there is something called peer pressure. this is called pressure on school districts to require that anyone who works at a school be fully vaccinated. this pressure is coming from teachers themselves, parents, and lawmakers. i think as more and more districts require this, others will follow. this afternoon, the 18 school districts in marin county were given guidance on how to implement the new mandate. those districts know that most of their teachers and staff are vaccinated, but they lack real numbers. the districts want to record the data. mary jane burke is the marin county superintendent of schools. she said, this is a pandemic. this is a public health issue. we know that vaccines matter. we know they can ensure better and stronger levels of safety for students and staff. san jose unified has issued a similar policy. san francisco unified has not mandated vaccines for teachers and staff, but is requiring that everyone report their vaccination status. moving forward, they will assess the extent to which staff r

in oakland, lyanne melendez, abc7 news. >>> a lakeport man feared running out of time and money afterhim to give back benefits they already gave him. 7 on your side's michael finney takes a closer look at this odd situation. >> it is an odd situation. here is what happened. there was added urgency, because his benefits are frozen until this is resolved. he can't understand why edd is doing this at all. james feels as if he is being squeezed. the edd believes he is in prison and ineligible for an employment. he received this notice, ordering him to return his benefits. >> i'm confident i don't owe them the money. >> reporter: the same notice told him to disregard this notice if he filed an appeal. >> my appeal hearing was 25 may and nobody showed up on edd's behalf. >> reporter: yet edd sent him this letter threatening to levy his tax refund if he did not repay his benefits by august 15. >> i don't know at this point. i don't know how it is their policy to do that. >> reporter: edd tells us inmates are using identities of citizens outside of prison to collect benefits illegally. james

be there for the children. >> that was lyanne melendez reporting. if you are looking for more back to school stories we'll have them all next week on abc 7 news. we'll bring you a full week of education stories on air and online, all part of our effort to build a better bay area. all right, lisa. back to school already. >> i know. >> wow. >> how'd that happen? good morning, everyone. look at the haze where it's in the upper 70s. good 10 to maybe 12 degree warm-up for many of you in the north bay. lake county, you're approaching 100 today, even hotter. stay tuned. i'll have all the hot temperatures for the weekend ahead next. >> thank you, lisa. also ahead, hiring police as private security. there is a lot of controversy surrounding a plan to keep san jose schools safe. we're only a month away from california's recall election. it is one month from today. governor newsom was in the bay area to kick off a string of campaign events. what he said about the competition and the big names who may show up to support him. you doing okay with those new spicy

education reporter lyanne melendez is joining us live with details of anhepricent.r happened to me. for parents with jobslike ours, is a real problem. here's how we got here. some programs had to cut staff during the pandemic. many of those people are gone.a now, staffing to pre-pandemic levels has proven to be a challenge. at hillcrest school in oakland, the grass has been cut. the classrooms have been set up to welcome students in the playground is back to school ready. then came the email from the principal to parents, regarding adventure time afterschool care. they are facing a staffing shortage so severe that right now they are not able to stay fully staffed. adventure time has 26 locations in the bay area and all are struggling to hire staff. in the meantime, parents like adam miller are being asked, if they can, to delay putting their children in the afterschool program. >> we are lucky enough we have flexibility, so we did volunteer to have our daughter start later to help out. >> reporter: priority will be given to families in the following categories. esse

. >> lyanne melendez >>> microsoft is requiring u.s. employees to show proof of vaccination. the rule also applies to vendors and guests. that will apply next month. google became the first tech company to announce a mandate last week. facebook followed suit, announcing employees at all u.s. campuses must be vaccinated. all three companies will accept exemption for medical or religious reasons. >>> 78% of santa clara county residents are fully vaccinated and officials want to push that number even higher. >> if you are not vaccinated today, you are putting yourself at high risk of infection and serious illness. you are putting those around you at high risk of infection and illness. the time to get vaccinated is now. >> officials say there are those that are fearful of the shop because they are worried about side effects and don't want to miss work. dr. luna said if you have side effects, their mild compared to what it would be like if you got the virus and were not vaccinated. the county is offering several drop in vaccination clinics this week, which you can find by visiting

education reporter lyanne melendez joining us live with details of the latest predicament. >> reporter: you can relate. for parents with jobs that are not flexible, this is a real problem. here is how we got to this situation. some programs had to cut staff during the pandemic. remember that? so many of those people are long gone. now, staffing to nearly pre- pandemic levels has proven to be a challenge. at hillcrest school in oakland, the grass has been cut, the classrooms have been set up to welcome students, and the playground is back to school ready. then came the email from the principal to parents, regarding adventure time after school care. they are facing a staffing shortage so severe that right now they are not able to safely staff any of their school sites at full capacity. adventure time has 26 locations in the bay area and all of them are struggling to hire staff. in the meantime, parents like adam miller are being asked, if they can, to delay putting their children in the afterschool program. >> we are lucky enough that we have flexibility, so we did volunteer to have our