Sacramento-area schools see COVID spikes as campuses reopen. Why most are staying open
Just days into the school year, COVID-19 cases and quarantines caused by infections are on the rise in Sacramento-area districts.
Hundreds of cases have been reported among students and staff, the vast majority of which have been clustered at high schools and middle schools, where most students are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. The number of young children being admitted to local hospitals with COVID is also increasing.
While health experts have their eye on COVID-19 cases among children, district closures are not planned. State Senate Bill 98, which allowed California schools to pivot to distance learning during the pandemic, sunset on June 30. The goal, education officials say, is to keep children in school.
Many health and safety measures are in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19: staff and students wear masks, more than 40% of 12- to 17-year-olds in Sacramento and Placer counties are fully vaccinated and COVID testing is available for students.
“I really trust in the public health advice,” Sacramento County Superintendent Dave Gordon said. “It has served us well so far. I think following that will get us through.”
Identifying cases will help districts contain outbreaks among staff and students, Gordon said.
“Kids should be at school in-person,” Gordon said. “Kids need to be together.”
At least one school in the region has announced a return to online learning due to an increase in cases.
Sutter County’s East Nicolaus High School announced it will quarantine staff and students for 10 days until Sept. 7 in response to “a very recent and a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak among our students and staff.” The school had been in session for just under a week. It’s unclear how many students tested positive at the school, which serves about 300 students.
COVID cases in Sacramento schools
Elk Grove Unified’s numbers jumped this week. Last week, the district reported 53 active cases of COVID-19, resulting in 87 quarantines. This week, those numbers rose to 83 positive cases and 693 quarantines.
San Juan Unified reported on its COVID-19 dashboard there are currently 211 students who tested positive across the district of about 38,000 students. About 44 teachers also tested positive. A total of 2,095 students and 86 staff members have been exposed.
Folsom Cordova Unified is reporting 55 active COVID-19 cases, including 47 students. Another 511 students and 13 staff members are in quarantine.
ZIP codes in North Sacramento, Del Paso Heights, North Highlands, Natomas and North Oak Park reported the highest COVID infection rates in Sacramento CA region
Pediatric admissions for COVID-19 are also on the rise.
At least 40 children were admitted to Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, UC Davis Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente’s Roseville Medical Center with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a two-week stretch from late July to early August, about triple the confirmed total from the prior two weeks, federal data show.
Medical experts, such as UC Davis Children’s Hospital chief of pediatric infectious disease Dr. Dean Blumberg, said the vast majority of children are not getting COVID-19 from child-to-child transmission but from adult-to-child transmission at home.
And while plans to return to campus were established months ago, the delta variant has changed the situation.
But as quarantine numbers continue to rise in the Sacramento area, some districts are sending their students to independent study programs so they can remain engaged in the classroom. Staff shortages make independent studies a challenge for some districts that are seeking to hire additional staff for a myriad of unfilled positions.
Testing key at schools
While school districts offer testing through federal funding, some parents are scrambling to get their children tested after exposures so that they can send them back to the classroom.
Sherene Aslan Gray, a parent in Rocklin Unified, tested her son after a possible exposure on campus. Results from the free tests offered by Rocklin Unified typically take one to two days, according to the district, but Gray and other parents had heard results could take longer.
Gray did not want her son missing class while waiting on results. Her son’s initial COVID-19 test cost her $240 at a local lab. He was negative. The school required a second test in three days to remain on campus, which will cost roughly $100.
“The testing should be affordable,” Gray said.
Folsom Cordova Unified offers free testing at four sites across the district. San Juan Unified has tests available to students and staff on Tuesdays and Fridays at various locations.
Sacramento City Unified spent some of its $320 million in COVID-19 relief funds on hiring 160 health aides to help administer free testing at 76 school sites, including the district office. The district allotted $18 million in federal funds this school year for their health program to prevent COVID-19 on campuses.
Rapid testing and PCR testing is currently available for all Sac City Unified students and staff at the Serna Center (5735 47th Ave.) Monday through Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Results typically come back between 24 and 48 hours.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.