Back to school season has started throughout the state of California and school campuses are welcoming students back for in-person learning.

After more than a year of virtual learning, resuming school in-person has been met with a mix of concerns and positive energy as it proves itself to be a big transition in public education.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has a back to school plan included within the California Comeback Plan to keep the students’ education flowing as we recover from the pandemic.

The California Comeback Plan comes with a $123.9 billion Pre-K and K-12 education package that provides an unprecedented level of school and student funding to transform the state’s public schools into gateways of equity and opportunity.

On August 6, Governor Newsom gave a speech in the San Bernardino City Unified School District regarding full opening of schools and historic education investments. He talked about the kids, instructors, future plans, resources, and the mask mandate. Additionally, Newsom announced that he has also advanced funding to give schools access to the resources and support they need to safely reopen.

“We’re getting all our kids safely back into in-person instruction and we’re doing it in a sustainable way,” Governor Newsom said. “We don’t want to do it in an episodic way, we want to do it in a safe way where these kids can get that full support.”

Students expressed stress and anxiety when it came to virtual learning last year, revealing a difficulty to pay attention and learn. Newsom’s educational package was made as an effort to make up for the learning gap and to make sure California students don’t get left behind.

With this budget, a brand new grade has been created for all Californians: transitional kindergarten (TK). After school for all and summer school for all is also now being funded by this project. Over $1.1 billion has been specifically invested in providing more counselors for students in school.

“We believe we can do more, and do better, when we have more resources in the classroom,” Newsom stated.

Newsom acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to do to make up for the challenges that students faced last year and that there was still work to be done in regards to the Delta variant of the coronavirus. He encouraged the unvaccinated public to get vaccinated and expressed the necessity of the mask mandate.