SACRAMENTO —
Even as officials laid out more tentative plans to reopen California’s battered economy, there were growing signs Tuesday that life would not be getting back to normal any time soon.
The 23-campus California State University system plans to all but cancel in-person classes in the fall and instead will offer instruction primarily online, with some limited exceptions that allow for in-person activity. The decision comes as schools throughout the country grapple with how long to keep campuses closed amid the coronavirus crisis.
“Our university when open without restrictions and fully in person … is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity,” Chancellor Timothy White said at a meeting of Cal State’s Board of Trustees. “That approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now.”
He also acknowledged that the university system lacks the resources to provide coronavirus testing for everybody and trace the contacts of infected people should there be an outbreak on a campus.