Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

15 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

15 hours ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

1 day ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

1 day ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

1 day ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

2 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

2 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

2 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

2 days ago
New State Policy Opens Local Schools for A Few Kids
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
August 26, 2020

Share

New guidelines from the California Department of Public Health opens the door to allowing small numbers of students back on campuses closed since March 13.

A lot of details remain to be hashed out, and Valley officials on Wednesday were studying the Cohorting Guidance to learn how it might apply in local schools.

Jim Yovino Fresno County Superintendent of Schools
Jim Yovino, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools

One thing is immediately clear, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino told GV Wire℠: The state is not giving schools the green light to reopen to general education students now.

The guidelines are designed to provide in-person, on-site instruction to small groups of students who have the greatest need. They are youngsters with disabilities, special education students, those in foster homes and the homeless, English learners, students at risk of abuse or neglect, and students at higher risk of learning loss because of distance learning or who are not participating in distance learning.

“It’s very limited,” Yovino said about the state’s Cohorting Guidance. “But I think it’s a great first step to get the kids who really need the services.”

Cohorting Guidance Sets Limits

The new guidelines permit small groups, or cohorts, containing no more than two supervising adults and no more than 14 students.

Students and adults in the cohort would not mingle with students or adults in other cohorts to minimize the possible spread of the highly contagious coronavirus.

Adults and students would need to wear face masks and stay 6 feet away from each other, so the size of the cohort could be smaller if the available space would not allow participants to remain 6 feet apart.

The new guidance allows schools that are closed to in-person instruction because of the July 17 state mandate to form cohorts. With the exception of several private Christian schools, schools across Fresno County are on distance learning because of the county’s high coronavirus infection rates.

Under the state mandate, schools must remain closed until the counties are off the state’s COVID-19 watchlist for 14 consecutive days.

The Cohort Guidance, however, allows school officials to develop plans in collaboration with labor partners and local health officials. “Express approval” from the health department is not required, but school officials are “required to adhere to any applicable, more restrictive local public health directive,” which could include an order issued by the county health officer.

What’s Next Here

Yovino said he is planning to meet Thursday with the county’s Public Health director, David Pomaville, and interim county health officer Dr. Rais Vohra to discuss how the Cohorting Guidance can be implemented in Fresno County.

Sim Dhillon, spokesman for the Public Health Department, said Pomaville and Vohra were reviewing the state guidelines Wednesday morning and were not immediately available for comment.

The Fresno County Public Health Department had previously signed off on local plans developed through the Office of the Superintendent of Schools in concert with school districts to allow individual students on-campus for in-person special education assessments that are required by federal law, and also in-person instruction for individual students with special needs, Yovino said.

The local guidelines limit the students’ time on campus to no more than two hours at a time and no more than two days each week.

The state’s Cohorting Guidance “expands what we were doing,” Yovino said.

Assessments Are Overdue

Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla said the special education assessments have not yet begun but will have to soon. That’s because schools need to catch up on assessments that were suspended after schools closed and are now overdue.

Bonilla said Wednesday morning that he was still reviewing the details of the Cohorting Guidance to see the potential impact on school staff.

“As a general response, our position won’t change in regard to safety,” he said. Before schools can reopen even to small groups of students, Fresno Unified will need to provide well-detailed plans spelling out safety protocols, Bonilla said.

Fresno Unified spokeswoman Nikki Henry said Tuesday that the district was reviewing the Cohorting Guidance and had no immediate comment about potential impacts on the district.

Spokeswomen for Clovis and Central unified school districts did not respond to requests for comment.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

DON'T MISS

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

UP NEXT

Trump Impounds Billions in Education Funding. For Fresno Unified, It’s $7.1 Million

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

UP NEXT

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Suspect Identified in Ambush Shooting That Killed 2 Idaho Firefighters

UP NEXT

Despite $49M Deficit, Fresno Unified Gives Top Brass 5% Raise, 3% One-Time Bonus

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

15 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

15 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

15 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

15 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

15 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Rachelle Maria Blanco

15 hours ago

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

15 hours ago

Boxer Chavez Jr Expected to Be Deported to Mexico to Serve Sentence, Mexican President Says

15 hours ago

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

15 hours ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

15 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign a massive package of tax and spending cuts into law at a ceremony at the White House on Friday, ...

14 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

The Madre Fire burning near New Cuyama has scorched 70,801 acres as of Friday, July 4, 2025, afternoon, making it California’s largest wildfire of the year, with only 10% containment and multiple evacuation zones in place. (CalFire)
14 hours ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

14 hours ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

A pumpjack operates at the Vermilion Energy site in Trigueres, France, June 14, 2024. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2025. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

Billy Wayne Sinisgalli, a 54-year-old transient known locally as Wayne, was found dead along a rural Fresno road Wednesday in what authorities are investigating as a suspicious death. (Fresno County SO)
15 hours ago

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

Israel Builds a Fence Around the West Bank
15 hours ago

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

A view of the site of Thursday's Israeli strike that damaged and destroyed residential buildings, at Shati (Beach) refugee camp, in Gaza City, July 4, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa)
15 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend