As we’ve mentioned, most of Orange County’s 28 school districts began their fall semesters last month, with the Centralia School District being the first to bring students back on Aug. 10. But a few districts have start dates in September.
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, Westminster School District and the Huntington Beach Union High School District welcomed back students this week, and the Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach City and Ocean View school districts will re-open after Labor Day.
Here’s another look at the 2021-22 Orange County public school start dates.
And here are some of the other stories we are following this week.
- The Laguna Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education held a special meeting to consider requiring students to get tested for COVID-19. The Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Ana unified school districts now require students get a negative COVID-19 test result every week to show up at campuses.
- California school districts are facing a substitute shortage so severe that officials at smaller districts fear temporary school closures, EdSource reports.
- The Orange County Health Care Agency is offering COVID-19 testing kits at no cost to all Orange County schools and businesses.
- Two middle schools in the Orange Unified School District will soon benefit from a nationwide partnership with Verizon that is set to provide free devices, internet access, and innovative learning programs to under-resourced students.
- Kindergarten students at Heritage Computer Science Academy in the Garden Grove Unified School District are now prepared for the new school year after a former GGUSD student raised nearly $2,500 to purchase backpacks filled with school supplies.
- Two of Orange County’s community college districts have joined the UC and Cal State systems in requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students and employees. Trustees for the Coast and the North Orange County districts voted to mandate that faculty, staff and students attending on-campus classes show they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they get approval for a medical or religious exemption.
- The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has removed a teacher from the classroom while it investigates a social media video in which she suggests students could pledge allegiance to a pride flag, reports the Orange County Register.
- As part of a multifaceted outreach program to educate students, residents and organizations about recycling best practices, Orange County Waste & Recycling, in partnership with OCDE’s Inside the Outdoors environmental education program, is launching a new curricular initiative aimed at challenging local learners to adopt sustainable behaviors.
This is the part where we encourage you to keep up with local education news stories by bookmarking the OCDE Newsroom, subscribing for emailed updates and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.