See back-to-school safety rules on masks, quarantines for all Sacramento-area counties

Back to school is always a busy season, but this year, families face the additional burden of navigating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic amid a surge in cases due to the delta variant. California is rolling out rules – like a vaccine mandate for teachers that was announced last Wednesday – and policies meant to balance safety with keeping kids in classrooms as much as possible.

Local schools are relying on policies from the California Department of Public Health to figure out how to maintain safety. For now, some areas are a bit murky, particularly as they pertain to extracurricular activities and quarantine procedures for vaccinated students, some officials said.

The Sacramento Bee dug through statewide guidance and talked with officials from Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties to learn how counties are interpreting and implementing guidance to ensure school safety. Here’s what you need to know.

California school COVID rules

The biggest statewide rule is the indoor mask requirement. All K-12 students in California must wear a face mask when inside, according to the CDPH. Schools need to develop policies for furnishing masks to students who come to class without one, as well as enforcement policies to ensure students keep masks on, according to the guidance.

The only exceptions to the mandate are for children under 2 years old; students with a medical condition, mental health condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask; those who are hearing impaired or those who are communicating with a hearing impaired individual; and people who would otherwise be put at risk by wearing a mask as determined by officials, according to the CDPH. Exempted individuals still need to wear protection such as a face shield with a fabric drape when inside and maintain physical distance.

The universal mask rule will enable modified quarantines in schools. That means if both parties in an exposure incident were wearing masks, unvaccinated children can still go to school for in-person instruction as long as they’re asymptomatic, continue to wear a mask, undergo at least twice weekly testing for 10 days and quarantine from all other extracurricular or community activities.

Fully vaccinated students exposed to COVID-19 don’t have to quarantine following a known exposure as long as they are asymptomatic, according to CDPH guidance. The CDPH confirmed that that rule hasn’t changed since it was issued May 12, despite the rise of the delta variant.

The state is also calling on parents to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on staying home and getting tested when sick. The CDC says students who feel sick should stay home and try to get tested regardless of vaccination status. The CDPH is also helping with testing and released guidance for schools setting up testing strategies July 12. While the CDPH encourages physical distancing, there aren’t mandatory minimums for spacing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest vaccine order applies only to school staff members, but he did not rule out requiring vaccines for students. When asked about such a requirement, Newsom said he’d “consider all options in the future.” Children under the age of 12 still can’t access vaccines.

The CDPH is compiling statewide guidance in a dedicated website called CA Safe Schools for All. The CDPH declined The Bee’s request for an interview on school guidance.

Sacramento County health guidance

In supplemental guidance dated Aug. 6, Sacramento County Public Health detailed best practices for schools in the county. Major recommendations include assigned seating, which, according to the guidance, will help with contact tracing, and the county suggested considering consistent seating during mealtimes for the same reason.

All back to school nights or open houses should be conducted virtually, and schools should consider delaying field trips until local case rates improve, according to the guidance. The same goes for school dances or other large gatherings, like rallies.

The guidance in several places recommends wearing masks outdoors even though it isn’t required, including for sports and recess. Where wearing a mask isn’t possible – such as during band or mealtimes – the guidance recommends holding activities outside.

“If Public Health was helping you run your school, this is how we would do things in terms of keeping kids safe,” said Nick Mori, a program planner with the county health office who is part of a team providing assistance to schools.

Mori added that the supplemental guidance fills in some holes left by statewide guidance, particularly around extracurricular activities. When asked about the state’s modified quarantine rules, which are geared toward unvaccinated people, Mori said the county intends to release an update to its framework for quarantine decisions imminently in light of the emergence of the super-spreadable delta variant.

In addition to communicating with schools about implementing statewide guidance and helping to fill in the holes where necessary, Mori said the schools team also provides technical assistance for things like contact tracing when schools need it. Schools are required to report exposures to county public health officials through an online portal.

Yolo County updates

In Yolo County, Office of Education Public Information Officer Anthony Volkar explained that the most important thing to know about COVID-19 guidance is that it’s always changing. Like Sacramento County, Yolo is also largely focused on implementing statewide and CDC guidance.

“We’re just asking family members and parents to have patience with school staff,” Volkar said. “This year has certainly been challenging, and so they’re just trying to keep up with all of the new regulations that are coming in that are all designed to keep students safe.”

Volkar said the county is emphasizing a multi-layered approach to safety. When schools aren’t able, for example, to accommodate 3 feet of physical distance in an outdoor space, staff will ask students to wear masks even though it’s not required. But so far, Yolo County hasn’t introduced a full mask mandate for outdoor activities such as recess.

When it comes to testing, Volkar said a partnership with Healthy Yolo Together, a project run by UC Davis, is enabling on-site testing in schools. Mira Susa, director of education management with Healthy Yolo Together, told The Bee the group has conducted nearly 700,000 tests across the county over the past year. Healthy Yolo Together is able to test entire classes of students in 10 to 15 minutes, so educators don’t have to worry about losing instructional time, Susa added.

Volkar said the county is still waiting on school guidance from the state for extracurricular activities like sports and band but that, for now, most schools in the county are operating on similar extracurricular protocols as last school year.

Placer County

Placer County’s website refers to the state’s school COVID-19 guidance hub, though, according to a Tuesday update, the county is offering children’s surgical masks to school districts that need them.

“There is no one simple solution in our community’s fight against this disease,” interim Health Officer Dr. Rob Oldham said in the update. “Multiple layers of prevention strategies all play an important role in helping us reduce illness and suffering, keep our economy and schools humming, and moving forward in the ways we all want.”

Michele Perrault, Roseville City School District executive director of communications, said school districts are trying to work out what’s best for students while striking a balance between safety and giving students the fullest educational experience possible.

In Perrault’s district, schools aren’t offering on-site testing for students. Physical distancing also varies from classroom to classroom, but Perrault said schools will be spacing out desks. Staff is also encouraging students to do what they feel comfortable with when it comes to wearing a mask outdoors.

El Dorado County

Kevin Monsma, deputy superintendent of education services at the El Dorado County Office of Education, said that returning to school looks a lot like a continuation of what schools in El Dorado’s 15 districts did last year.

“If we roll back to last September, we were one of the few counties that had students coming back to school in person,” Monsma said.

El Dorado school district superintendents are meeting at least once a month, and sometimes more depending on needs, with the county public health department to discuss safety measures, Monsma said. Recently, one meeting addressed how to interpret the CDPH modified quarantine guidance. The Office of Education in partnership with the county’s public health department created a guide for schools based on the CDC and CDPH guidance explaining when students need to quarantine and for how long, updated as of Aug. 9.

Dina Gentry, Communications director for EDCOE, said the office of education shared that document not only with county schools but also with schools across the state.

Schools in the county are enforcing the indoor mask mandate while also creating space for a reprieve: Some schools are setting up special spots outside the classroom for kids to take a quick break from the masks, Monsma said. For students experiencing symptoms of COVID, county schools have test kits on hand, he added.

The Office of Education hasn’t issued any of its own guidance for things like extracurricular activities, Monsma said, adding that activities like high school sports are largely moving forward. But like other counties, Monsma said, he is waiting on updated CDPH guidance to determine best practices for extracurricular activities.

This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.