Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that they will not consider extending waivers for elementary schools to reopen after receiving new guidance from the state.

Public health officials announced the policy Tuesday, stating that they will “adhere to new guidance from the California Department of Public Health, which recommends that Counties with case rates at or above 200 cases per 100,000 residents do not extend waivers for the re-opening of classroom instruction for students in grades TK- 6.”

As of Tuesday, Los Angeles County’s case rate stands at 355 per 100,000.

“We know that to many families, this is a disappointing announcement, but it’s based on the existing science and data that is guiding all of our decision-making,” a statement issued Tuesday read. “We need to ensure the health and safety of our children, school teachers and staff and all of their families.”

This decision means that all elementary schools within the Santa Clarita Valley, which is part of Los Angeles County, will be unable to obtain a waiver to re-open, keeping all schools in Santa Clarita in a distance-learning format for the time being.

“L.A. County recently became aware of issues with the state’s data feed which has resulted in an undercount of the positive number of cases reported for each county. This impacts the number of cases within each region and the county’s overall positivity testing rate. The Department of Public Health is actively trying to resolve this issue with the California Department of Public Health,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “In the meantime, this incredibly frustrating misstep by the state has created a hurdle that the county must address before we can move forward with school waivers. I am committed to the social and emotional well-being of children and youth, in addition to ensuring protections for their health.”

However, health officials did also say that they would reconsider this decision “once the case rate falls to the levels recommended by the State.”

“The Department of Public Health will continue to work with all of our partners across the County to implement the infection control strategies we know effectively reduce community transmission and case rates so that schools can re-open for in-person instruction as soon as the data and science tell us it’s safe to do so,” Tuesday’s statement reads.

Teachers, staff and administrators are still set to be allowed to return to school buildings, provided adults adhere to existing protocols that require physical distancing and infection control measures, including wearing face coverings.

“I have requested that the Department of Public Health quickly work to create our own database to provide the positive number of cases within our County, and consider a regional matrix which would allow school districts to apply for waivers based on their case rate,” Barger said.

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