Orange County Superintendent Dr. Al Mijares issued the following statement Wednesday in response to the OC Board of Education’s July 28 announcement of a planned lawsuit against California’s governor and public health officer:
On the heels of recommending students return to school without face coverings or social distancing, a majority of the five-member OC Board of Education has decided to file a lawsuit against the state public health officer and Governor Gavin Newsom over California’s school reopening plans.
I am disappointed by this latest legal action, but not surprised. This lawsuit continues the pattern of a highly litigious board majority that seems to have no qualms about diverting time, energy and financial resources from students and programs to satisfy their own ideological interests.
Remember that locally elected school boards and superintendents will continue to approve and implement their own plans based on the guidance of state and local public health agencies and the needs of their communities. The Orange County Department of Education is working to support them every step of the way, and I am optimistic that we can unite as a county to return our students to safe and equitable learning environments.
Please convince me that it’s safe for our children to return to school without the masks that we have been ordered to wear!
Please convince me that school age kids are not a major source of passing germs back and forth through out the school year.
Please convince me that you know ALL there is to know about this virus!
Please convince me that you can guarantee our children will be safe and not get infected and/or pass it on to their teachers and their Parents or their elderly Grandmothers, Grandfathers, Aunts, Uncles, Sisters, Brothers and family members that might be health compromised!!
Can you PROMISE ALL THAT???
Can you??
Kathi,
I completely agree! Isn’t it really interesting how you do not see a single O.C. Supervisor like Donald Wagner, Michelle Steele, Andrew Do, Lisa Bartlett or Doug Chaffee offering any evidence that would indicate that it is safe to reopen schools. Instead, they question the legitimacy State’s 8% infection rate requirement to get off the watch list. Never mind that our case rate is hovering around 150 per 100,000, which is 6 times higher than the 25 per 100,000 which is the maximum allowed before being put on the watch list. The OC Board of Education should all resign, with the exception of Rebecca Gomez. Teachers would love to be able to teach in person, it would be much easier, however, given the conditions of a rapidly spreading respiratory pandemic, which attacks every bodily organ system, it is NOT safe to open schools.
Now you are probably saying that Covid-19 doesn’t impact school aged children, read the recent report: Children’s Hospital of OC reports increase in COVID-19 cases, mostly among school-aged children. https://abc7.com/6328215/
Any of our OC Supervisors or Board of Education Trustees care to cross examine the doctors/specialists at CHOC? Let me know, I’m waiting.