Rural California high school closes campus due to COVID-19 outbreak in first week back
A high school in a rural California town north of Sacramento has returned to remote learning through the end of next week in response to a rapid outbreak of COVID-19 cases in students and staff.
The closure comes after just five days of in-person instruction.
East Nicolaus High School in Sutter County returned Wednesday to distance learning, one week after the start of the school year on Aug. 18, according to a letter from Superintendent Neil Stinson posted on the school website Tuesday evening.
“Due to a very recent and rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak among our students and staff we are taking the following action: Effective immediately as of 3:15pm on Tuesday August 24th, it is recommended by our county health officer that we quarantine all students and staff off campus for the next 10 days,” the letter begins.
It was not clear how many students or staff tested positive. Stinson in an emailed response to The Sacramento Bee on Thursday afternoon said he was “not able to release that information.”
The 10-day quarantine lasts through Sept. 3. East Nicolaus plans to return to in-person learning Sept. 7, after the three-day Labor Day weekend.
“I want to stress that this campus closure is only for eight days of instruction and we are hoping and expecting our students and staff to proceed through this period with our eyes on returning to full-time, in-person instruction,” Stinson wrote in his letter to parents.
Stinson also said in the letter that sports practices must be canceled during the quarantine period.
“It is important to understand that while the school has significant positive cases it is likely even more predominant in our athletic teams and those athletes should remain vigilant in quarantine protocols,” the superintendent wrote.
East Nicolaus High in recent years has had around 300 students enrolled. The rural towns of Nicolaus and East Nicolaus are about 25 miles north of Sacramento, roughly midway between the capital and Yuba City.
Sutter currently has some of the highest rates of COVID-19 activity of any California county. Its seven-day test positivity of 15.3% was sixth-worst among the state’s 58 counties, nearly triple the statewide rate of 5.4%, according to California Department of Public Health data updated Wednesday.
Only about 27% of Sutter County adolescents ages 12 through 17 are fully vaccinated, according to CDPH, well below the state average of 46%.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 9:37 AM.
