Here's when schools could re-open in Solano County
State officials have allowed Solano County to move into a less-restrictive tier based on COVID-19 data.
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State health officials on Tuesday gave approval for Solano County and other California communities to move into a less-restrictive COVID-19 monitoring group, a move that allows some businesses and institutions to resume indoor services with certain modifications.
At a press conference, officials said Solano County, Alameda County and three others had been moved from the state’s “purple” tier — one that indicates widespread COVID-19 infections — to the state’s “red” tier, signaling an improvement in county efforts to combat the novel coronavirus.
The move means retail operations will be allowed to increase their indoor capacity from 25 percent to 50 percent, though masks and social distancing measures are still required. It also means other institutions like restaurants, gyms and places of worship may resume offering indoor services, although with significantly reduced capacity.
But perhaps the biggest change is a green-light for schools to resume offering in-person instruction, though that shift won’t happen right away: According to state guidelines, schools may transition from remote learning to in-person instruction once a county has been in the red tier for two weeks.
Assuming Solano County isn’t downgraded, Tuesday’s move means Solano County schools could re-open as soon as October 6. Any decision to re-open schools from that point on would be up to individual school districts, some of which may still choose to employ remote learning measures based on their own criteria.
“Administrators across the county recognize that there is no universal approach for returning to in-person instruction. Instructional plans may vary from district to district based upon the needs of each community,” Lissette Estrella-Henderson, Solano County’s superintendent of schools, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Schools have worked hard on progressing to a point that enables them to consider reopening campuses for students, and they will continue to keep putting student and staff safety first.”
Superintendent Estrella-Henderson said each individual school district will continue communicating with parents and guardians “regarding future plans and instructional options available.”
Six school districts serve nearly 63,000 students from Kindergarden to the 12th grade, according to information provided by the Solano County Office of Education.
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