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In-person learning won’t resume at San Francisco public schools due to negotiations over COVID-19 demands

The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline are seen from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

San Francisco public schools won’t reopen for in-person learning in January because of a breakdown in negotiations between the school district and teachers unions over coronavirus safety, the San Francisco Unified School District said.

“The district cannot meet all of the new requirements SFUSD’s labor unions have proposed, and there is not sufficient time to complete bargaining in order to reopen any school sites on Jan. 25,” the district said in an online statement.


The biggest barrier, the district said, is a demand by labor groups that no staff or students return for in-person learning until the state puts San Francisco in the orange tier, reserved for places with moderate transmission of the coronavirus. The state’s color-coded reopening system ties reductions in new coronavirus cases and the rate of positive coronavirus tests to eased restrictions.

San Francisco is now in the purple tier, indicating widespread transmission. Elementary school students and pupils with disabilities had been expected to return to classrooms in late January.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.