Dear Vacaville Christian Community,
Last Friday, Governor Newsom held a press conference and shared guidance for schools across California. If you haven’t seen the updated guidance, you can find the information
here
. Since the governor’s announcement, I’ve sought health, legal, and spiritual guidance on how our school ought to respond.
In a recent survey, 86.7% of VCS families strongly agreed or agreed that they are “comfortable with on-campus learning this fall if required safety measures are in place.” Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently provided guidance for schools, sharing “the AAP strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of
having students physically present in school
(emphasis added).”
With the premise that on-campus learning is best for the majority of our school community (please remember that for families uncomfortable with on-campus learning, we will offer a dynamic distance learning option), I have continued to consider the safety of our VCS students, staff, and families. To that end, we have designed comprehensive safety plans based on best practices. In order to further ensure the safety of our community, I am presently coordinating a
Health Professional Advisory Committee
that will provide feedback on our safety plans. The American Academy of Pediatrics also shares:
“The preponderance of evidence indicates that children and adolescents are less likely to be symptomatic and less likely to have severe disease resulting from [COVID-19] infection. In addition, children may be less likely to become infected and to spread infection.”
As a respecter of the constitution, I greatly value our right as a private, Christian school to exercise our religious freedom, and believe firmly that long term school closures inhibit our ability to exercise this important, unalienable right. Legal consultation has also advised VCS that,
“It is important to note that the (governor’s) Guidance is not law nor was it accompanied by an appropriate Executive Order which instructs private schools in the State of California to resume school solely through distance learning with no in person instruction...Based upon our understanding of the Guidelines...we believe private schools throughout the State of California can resume in person instruction this coming school year.”
In the event that the governor issues an Executive Order on this matter, we will consider at that time what is best to be done and will communicate with our community as soon as practicable. In the meantime,
VCS will continue with Phase 3 (on-campus learning) beginning August 24th
. As a reminder, we will offer a distance learning option for families uncomfortable with having their child(ren) on campus - we will release details about this program early next week and begin allowing families to select this option.
Thank you and God bless!
