SANTA ANA—As Santa Ana Unified School District board members prepare to consider a plan for reopening for in-person instruction a year since the COVID-19 pandemic forced students into distance learning, a prominent University of California–Irvine professor of pediatrics said today it’s safe for students to return to campuses. “I think they’re ready to open the schools and hope they would,” said Dr. Dan Cooper, a UCI professor of pediatrics, who has worked with Orange County schools on COVID-19 issues throughout the pandemic. “Almost all of the data shows that schools can open safely if the schools follow all of the mitigation procedures,” Cooper said. “This is data coming in from all over the world.” Cooper said it has been safe even when the case rates were higher. “Look at the private schools in Orange County,” which have been open since the fall, Cooper said. “They’ve been open the whole time and …