Should he survive a recall election later this year, would California Governor Gavin Newsom preside more cautiously, having survived the political near-death experience, or push even harder to the left?

The best guess by state leaders – and fondest hope for parents – is that California public schools will fully reopen their campuses this fall to all students. After more than a year of remote, hybrid or blended learning – or no learning at all – everyone should welcome a return to normalcy.

When schools across California closed in mid-March of last year, parents saw the decision for what it was: a sensible precaution in the face of a novel threat. At the time, they couldn’t have imagined it would be a year or more before their children would see the inside of a classroom again.

In California, as elsewhere in America, school’s out for a majority of the summer months. And while California schools aren’t out forever, nor have they been blown to pieces (yes, we’re channeling our inner Alice Cooper), there’s the uncomfortable question of what happens when the next academic year commences in mid-August.