A student at Magnolia Elementary concentrates on a classroom assignment. Magnolia is one of several schools in the Cajon Valley Union School District to offer child care for families during the coronavirus pandemic. / Photo by Adriana Heldiz

Coronavirus restrictions on school this fall are going to lead to an even worse inequity in education than already exists.

A new kind of school privatization is exploding, reports VOSD’s Will Huntsberry, and suddenly, families with money will be able to send their children to day programs that look a lot like school, while public school campuses will be technically closed to others.

Coronado Unified, for example, wants to contract with a third party called Champions — which typically runs before- and after-school programs — to provide on-campus childcare for a fee.

Students who can pay, writes Huntsberry, will be able to socialize with peers and have an adult to supervise their work, similar to the way school was pre-coronavirus.

“It’s deeply disturbing,” one expert told Huntsberry. “We may get back to school and find the gulf between the students who had these opportunities and those that didn’t is greater than ever before.”

Another City Official Is Out

A high-level San Diego official coordinating the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic resigned last month for reasons that are still unclear.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer Bob Vacchi was a well-respected manager overseeing libraries, parks and other departments and insiders, Lisa Halverstadt writes, saw him as an even-keeled bureaucrat who played by the rules.

Last fall, however, the city auditor criticized him and others for failing to notify their office of a parks employee accused of embezzlement. Officials had investigated internally, and in his defense Vacchi said officials had instituted changes to prevent future thefts. 

His is the second notable city departure in recent weeks, although they don’t appear to be related. 

What to Watch in North County in November

The deadline is approaching to get on the November ballot in certain races, and already the Oceanside mayor’s race is jam-packed.

Some of the faces, like former Assemblyman Rocky Chavez and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez, you’ll recognize. Another gained five minutes of notoriety in May as a gym owner arrested for defying public health orders.

Kayla Jimenez compiled a list of the seats that are up for grabs and the major initiatives that have already qualified in this week’s North County Report. Encinitas and Solana Beach voters will consider new rules for cannabis companies. 

What the Supes Are Up to

County supervisors agreed to several notable things this week. 

They voted to allow places of worship and fitness centers to use parks and established a compliance call center so the public can submit complaints of violations of county public health orders, NBC 7 reports.

They also developed a new plan for inmate medical care through private contractors and spending federal pandemic funds on child care providers, testing in schools and meals for senior citizens, City News Service reports. 

A proposal to lift the county’s ban against cannabis businesses in unincorporated areas of San Diego County, however, failed, the U-T reports. 

In Other News

The Morning Report was written by Maya Srikrishnan and Jesse Marx, and edited by Sara Libby.

Leave a comment

We expect all commenters to be constructive and civil. We reserve the right to delete comments without explanation. You are welcome to flag comments to us. You are welcome to submit an opinion piece for our editors to review.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.