Sacramento school district says substitute teacher has died of coronavirus
A temporary volunteer and substitute teacher who worked at Sutterville Elementary School in February and tested positive for coronavirus died on Sunday, according to a statement released by the Sacramento City Unified School District.
The district announced last week that the substitute tested positive for the virus, and responded by deep cleaning the school.
“Today the Sacramento City Unified School District was deeply saddened to learn that the individual who worked as a temporary volunteer and a substitute teacher in our district has passed away,” said district Superintendent Jorge Aguilar. “We join the family, friends, colleagues and students in grieving this tragic loss. This death underscores the seriousness of this current public health emergency. Sac City Unified will continue to implement any and all measures recommended by public health leaders to protect the health and safety of our students, our staff, and our community.”
The statement was released Monday afternoon by the district, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and the Sacramento City Teachers Association. The teacher’s name was not released.
“This is a devastating loss to our community,” said SCTA President David Fisher, a second grade teacher in the district. “Our schools are filled with young people, but it’s important to remember those in our school community are also older and perhaps more vulnerable at the time of this virus crisis.”
Sacramento County in a midday Monday update to its coronavirus website added one new case and one additional death to the tally. County public health officials had reported the second person to die was “older than 70 and had underlying health conditions.” There have now been 33 cases of the coronavirus and two deaths in the county.
The first death in Sacramento County was a woman in her 90s residing at an Elk Grove assisted living home who died last Tuesday. Authorities did not provide identifying details for the second individual, except that this person was also “older than 70 and had underlying health conditions,” according to the county website.
“The passing of an educator due to COVID-19 is tragic,” Steinberg said. “While our community steps up to meet the challenge of this public health crisis, I agree with our districts’ decision to temporarily close schools across Sacramento County to slow the spread of COVID-19. This is one of many steps that public health leaders are recommending, and I commend everyone in our city and county who are working together to meet this challenge with resolve.”
Sutterville was the fifth school in the district — two high schools and three elementary schools — that has been cleaned and disinfected in recent weeks after community members with ties to the school have had contact with those who tested positive.
The district responded on Thursday closing all of its schools starting Monday through Wednesday. That was then followed by a county wide school shutdown for two weeks with collaboration with the Sacramento County Office of Education and health officials.
Sutterville parent Alexandra Condon took her son to class last Thursday after news broke that a former substitute became ill. Condon said the classroom appeared clean, with desks wiped down. But many students were not in attendance, and she decided to take her son home as well when she noticed the carpet didn’t appear to be vacuumed.
Later that evening, the district announced district-wide closures, which later turned into region-wide school shutdowns from Yolo County to El Dorado County.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 3:28 PM.