| Contact: Michelle Smith McDonald, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, [email protected], (510) 670-4163 |
| January 8, 2021 |
| Today Governor Gavin Newsom shared his state budget proposal for 2021-22, which includes critical funding increases to address the pandemic-induced realities that have so profoundly and inequitably impacted public education. We appreciate that the Governor’s budget reflects those realities. |
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| Significant funding increases across the board for K-12 education, including the proposed $2 billion for immediate actions toward school reopening, lays the groundwork for the eventual return of our youngest students for in-class instruction and for schools and districts to serve their students in the most urgent need. This budget proposal, coupled with the Safe Schools for All Plan announced last month, provides a clearer pathway to achieving the goal we have held since schools closed their doors last March: returning students to classrooms. We eagerly anticipate the additional details to this plan that our schools and districts require to move forward. |
| The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) and Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) continue unwavering support of districts and schools to use this time during distance learning to prepare their reopening plans, which may be implemented when conditions allow. As Alameda County experiences the biggest surge since the beginning of the pandemic, our immediate focus remains on reaching conditions that allow us to return to the in-person instruction students need and deserve. We all must continue to do our part to help by wearing face coverings, maintaining physical distance, washing hands, traveling only as essential, and complying with public health orders.  This budget proposal, coupled with the Safe Schools for All Plan announced last month, provides a clearer pathway to achieving the goal we have held since schools closed their doors last March: returning students to classrooms. |
| We continue our advocacy for a clear plan that prioritizes vaccinations for school staff in the soonest possible timeframe and support for schools in rolling out testing protocols, both of which are vital in returning students to classrooms. We look forward to better days for our education system in 2021. Guidance and resources for schools in Alameda County can be found at www.acoe.org/reopening. |
| About ACOE The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE), under the leadership of County Superintendent of Schools L. K. Monroe, serves as liaison between the California Department of Education and the 18 Alameda County public school districts that serve more than 200,000 students and 10,000 teachers. ACOE provides oversight of district budgets and Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs). ACOE also directly operates schools that serve Alameda County’s most vulnerable students: Court Schools at the Juvenile Justice Center, ACOE Opportunity Academy schools serving students 16 and older seeking a high school diploma, and Community Schools that serve foster youth, students in substance abuse treatment, pregnant and parenting teens, Probation-referred youth, and students expelled from their resident school districts. ACOE also runs the Infant & Family Support Program, which provides individualized service for children from birth to three years and their families. For more information, visit www.acoe.org. |
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