Reopening Guidelines
COVID Guidelines for Schools & Colleges
From the union, public health, and education systems
Click on the tabs below to find the latest public health guidelines — and earlier reopening guidelines — issued by the CFT, the AFT, and public agencies. Where noted, you may click through to CFT and AFT articles containing more information. The union guidelines support safe learning spaces for all students, educators, and support staff.
SCHOOLS
June 30, 2022
California Dept. of Public Health
COVID-19 Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools, 2022-23
School Year
April 6, 2022
California Dept. of Public Health
Updated COVID-19 Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools,
2021-22 School Year
August 11, 2021
California Dept. of Public Health
Vaccine Verification for Workers in Schools
> READ
THE CFT UPDATE
August 2, 2021
California Dept. of Public Health
COVID-19 Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools, 2021-22
School Year
Released in conjunction
Questions and Answers
July 12, 2021
California Dept. of Public Health
K-12 school-based COVID-19 testing strategies for school year
2021-22
January 14, 2021
California Dept. of Public Health
COVID-19 and Reopening In-Person Instruction Framework & Public
Health Guidance for K-12 Schools, 2020-21 School Year
Released in conjunction
COVID-19 School Guidance Checklist
> READ THE
CFT ANALYSIS
August 3, 2020
California Dept. of Public Health
COVID-19
Industry Guidance: Schools and School-Based
Programs (first published June 5, 2022)
> READ
THE CFT STORY
June 8, 2020
California Dept. of Education
Stronger
Together: A Guidebook for the Safe Reopening of California’s
Public Schools
> READ
THE CFT STORY
HIGHER EDUCATION
July 23, 2021
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Guidelines for Institutions of Higher Education
> READ THE CFT UPDATE
August 7, 2020
California Dept. of Public
Health/CalOSHA
COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Institutions of Higher
Education
Note: California has retired its public
health guidance for higher ed and there is no update.
> READ
THE CFT STORY
June 26, 2020
California Community Colleges
Report of the Safe Campus Reopening Workgroup
> READ
THE CFT STORY
CFT
February 3, 2021
Classroom
Learning and Safe Schools for Employees and Students (CLASSES),
A Pathway to Bringing Students Back to Schools
California education unions, including the CFT, craft and
release joint school reopening plan.
>READ
THE CFT STORY
July 13, 2020
CFT urges Governor Newsom to delay physically reopening
schools
Surging coronavirus cases, testing woes make opening safely all
but impossible.
>READ
THE CFT STORY
June 24, 2020
A Checklist for Safely Reopening California Schools and
Colleges
The CFT urges unions to tailor this checklist to local
conditions to best assist in ensuring a safe working
environment for educators and students now and in the near
future. The checklist covers three key areas — General
Conditions, Infection Prevention, and Labor
Relations.
>READ
THE CFT STORY
AFT
February 2021
Leveraging Collective Bargaining, and Educator and School
Staff Voice, to Reopen Schools Safely
Case studies on how AFT affiliates have laid the
groundwork for reopening schools safely
>READ THE AFT STORY
2021
Reopening School Buildings Safely
The three conditions essential for school buildings to
reopen
>READ
THE AFT STORY
June 1, 2020
Guide to Bringing Parents, Patients, Students and Community
Together to Reopen America’s Schools Safely and
Equitably
A step-by-step approach for educators, parents
and communities
April 29, 2020
A Plan to Reopen American Schools &
Communities
Guidance for imagining a new normal for public education,
public health and our economy in the age of COVID-19
>READ
THE CFT STORY
New county-based monitoring drives school and college reopening
CFT continues to advocate for statewide system
The framework and rules guiding California’s gradual emergence from state-mandated closures were revised by Governor Newsom on August 28. The so-called “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” uses a color-coded system with four tiers, into which each county is assigned.