Sacramento-area school district identifies employee who died from COVID-19 as coach

San Juan Unified School District identified the employee who died from COVID-19 over winter break as Bella Vista High School cross country coach Tom Laythe.

Laythe was also a substitute teacher in the district.

The district announced his death on its website. It is the first known COVID-19 death in San Juan Unified School District, which is instructing students through distance learning.

Laythe began coaching cross country at Bella Vista in 2013. His teams qualified for the state meet five of those years. He also coached at El Camino High School and was a special education instructor in the district.

“I know that he was more than just a coach to many, but also a friend,” Bella Vista High Principal Darrin Kitchen said in a statement. “Coach Laythe had such a positive impact on the lives of many BV student athletes throughout the years that it is difficult to quantify. He was well-liked and well-respected by his peers, the BV staff, and the many student-athletes he worked with in his career.”

The district announced in December it would hold off on its Jan. 5 reopening plans as COVID-19 cases surged across the Sacramento region. District officials told The Sacramento Bee they would transition to in-person learning after the county has been in the red tier for two weeks.