Sacramento City Unified schools report 5 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to show that five people in all, not just students, tested positive in the last week.
Five individuals in the Sacramento City Unified School District have tested positive for COVID-19.
The district welcomed back students in grades kindergarten through third grade April 8. Within the last week, people have tested positive for the virus at Phoebe Hearst Elementary, Harkness Learning Hub, Washington Elementary, Isador Cohen Elementary and Abraham Lincoln Elementary. Not every case came from a classroom setting.
In a letter to parents, Phoebe Hearst school officials told families that all individuals in the cohort, including the teacher, will quarantine for 14 days. A substitute will be present to support the in-person learning.
“Sac City Unified has strict health precautions in place when individuals are at school and worksites,” read a letter from the district. “These measures include health screenings, physical distancing, wearing face coverings, hand hygiene, cough/sneeze hygiene, and disinfecting. Our classroom was disinfected per our protocols and all high touch areas around our school are routinely disinfected, as is the normal practice at all of our sites.”
Some district parents and teachers took to Facebook to express concern that the Phoebe Hearst Elementary School mascot, an adult in a dragon costume, posed for photographs while hugging children. Local, state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend at least three feet social distancing. The photos were posted on the school’s Facebook page.
About half of the district’s 40,000 students plan to return to campuses, which consists of in-person instruction two days a week and distance learning three days a week. About 8,000 students are back on campus in the staggered pre-kindergarten through third-grade classes. The district’s case rate is lower than Sacramento County’s case rate.
The district provides both polymerase chain reaction and rapid COVID-19 testing to students and staff upon request and holds routine testing every two weeks while Sacramento County is in the state’s red tier. Tests are available at the district’s Serna Center and on school campuses.
Sacramento City Unified officials highly recommend staff and students test for COVID-19 regularly based on the level of spread in the county.
According to district reopening guidelines, in line with county guidance, communication about positive cases is sent to “individuals that the person may have come into close contact with the individual who has tested positive,” and a classroom’s alternate cohort.
“A close contact is defined as someone who has been within six feet for 15 minutes or more of a person with COVID-19 during the time the person is infectious. Individuals who had contact with a close contact are not required to quarantine,” read the district guidance.
This story was originally published April 13, 2021 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Sacramento City Unified schools report 5 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19."