San Bernardino Schools to Remain Closed while Neighboring School Districts, other States Open

The San Bernardino City Unified School District has announced that they will remain closed to in-person teaching through the end of this school year.  Distance learning will continue for all students through June.

Many school districts throughout Southern California have begun the process of opening elementary schools to students.  Redlands Unified recently announced efforts to open for K through 2^nd grades on an opt-in basis.  Schools in other states including Texas and Florida began reopening last fall with few COVID-19 issues.

San Bernardino Unified is the largest district in San Bernardino County with more than 48,000 students and 7,000 employees.  It also has high rates of student poverty and serves a largely minority student population.

While all categories of students have fared poorly from distance learning, recent studies by the McKinsey Institute and others show that poor and minority students have fallen even further behind their counterparts as of December 2020 by an average of 3-5 months in math.

The statement from the San Bernardino City Unified School District blames “high COVID-19 infection rates within the District’s attendance boundaries” for the decision to remain closed, but fails to provide parents, teachers and students any comparative data to justify this position.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District serves the city of San Bernardino, parts of Highland and communities like Devore and Muscoy. District offices remain closed.