All San Ramon Students May Return To School This Fall

SAN RAMON VALLEY, CA — The San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education decided last month that all students who wish to do so may return to campus this fall.

SRVUSD staff will now begin planning for their return later this year. Students may also choose to continue with remote learning.

The board believes "that students need to be back in school for learning purposes, as well as for their social-emotional wellbeing," the district said in a news release.

"We are committed to reopening following all health and safety guidelines," said SRVUSD Superintendent John Malloy in the news release. "Together with a committed staff, I believe this district has done everything we can to safely return students to campuses and classrooms and we are committed to a full return in the fall."

Malloy lauded the flexibility and dedication of SRVUSD staff, who were forced to quickly make the move to remote learning after schools across the Golden State closed a year ago, as widespread closures were put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"Now they can look forward to returning to in-person instruction in the fall, and the joy of reconnecting with students and colleagues," he said.

SRVUSD Board President Susanna Ordway said in the news release that schools officials have been "pleased with the early success of hybrid instruction," which began last month for younger students. Middle and high schoolers will be able to return to class once Contra Costa County moves into the less-strict red tier.

It's unclear when that may happen, but county public health officials hope the move will come in another week or two, should current trends continue.

Read more: Will Contra Costa Move To The Red Tier In Coming Weeks?

The recent return to school has been celebrated by SRVUSD parents who have long pushed for students to return to the classroom, as some children struggled with isolation and schoolwork amid remote learning.

Some parents have been so frustrated by remote learning that they're collecting signatures to hold a recall election for three of SRVUSD's five board members — Ordway, Rachel Hurd and Ken Mintz — who voted in December to postpone the return to class as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths spiked. The other two board members — newly elected Shelley Clark and Laura Bratt, who also voted to postpone students' return — were protected from recall efforts by state law, which says a recall can't be launched against an elected official if she has held office fewer than 90 days.

Critics argue that the school district shouldn't have to spend around $650,000 on the costs of a recall election and say that the public should wait until next year's election to vote the board members out.

No signatures related to the recall effort had been filed with the Contra Costa County Elections Division as of Monday.