‘Pushed the panic button’: Families demand answers to Elk Grove district coronavirus closure
After the Elk Grove Unified School District announced it will shut down for a week over coronavirus fears, Sacramento area leaders came together in an attempt to assuage concerns but stopped short of chiding district leadership.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg stood alongside state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, Sacramento County Health Services Director Dr. Peter Beilenson and other local leaders at the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors offices to urge caution amid the panic over the virus.
“We’re not here to second guess any decision that has already been made,” Steinberg said. “Going forward I am equally concerned about the massive closure of schools, public spaces and public events without clear protocol and without a collaborative decision-making process that includes our public health leadership.”
Beilenson acknowledged the Elk Grove school district had consulted with his staff in coming to the decision to close schools, but suggested that it may have been a hurried process.
“There was a late night discussion with them, and I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, but the decision was made by them in consultation with our health officer,” Beilenson said. “We were a part of the decision but it was a kind of fast-track.”
Elk Grove Unified, the largest school district in Northern California, made its announcement Saturday after discovering that a parent of a child who attends a school in the district was ordered into quarantine by the Sacramento County Public Health Department.
No student or school district employee has tested positive for coronavirus, and although district officials moved up its spring break by a week to preserve the length of its school year, the move drew criticism from the community. Student athletes at Sheldon High School geared up to finish their basketball season will likely now have to sit out.
Beilenson said he would reach out Sunday to the California Interscholastic Federation — the governing body that oversees high school sports — to attempt to get Sheldon students back in the game.
A crowd of angry parents and athletes shouted their discontent to the cadre of elected officials over the course of the press conference.
The Sheldon boys varsity basketball team had been scheduled to compete in the CIF Northern California Open Division Regional semifinal game next week against Dublin, which advanced without contest due to the Elk Grove school district disruption.
Sheldon parents angry
Neketia Henry, the mother of an unsigned senior on Sheldon’s basketball team, said the school district’s move will have real consequences for the Elk Grove athletes’ future prospects.
“We’re ranked number six in the entire state, so this is not just any regular basketball game, this is for NorCal championships and to move on to play the state championship game — which we’ve been the past two years,” Henry said. “What that means for our boys is that college coaches at this time, their season is wrapping up, and they’re coming and recruiting our boys. We have college coaches that have already flown in to watch them play.”
Veletta Johnson, whose grandson is an unsigned senior on the team, voiced similar sentiments, and said that leadership has not done enough to rectify the situation.
“Think about it. They moved and advanced a team that’s lower seeded,” Johnson said. “I believe the mayor did not address it appropriately. What he said is, ‘I’m not going to second guess.’ What has happened is that it is clear that (Elk Grove Unified Superintendent) Christopher Hoffman pushed the panic button.”
As of Sunday afternoon, the CIF had released a new tentative schedule of basketball games that included Sheldon.
“Today the Elk Grove Unified School District has asked the CIF to place Sheldon High School’s team back into the tournament pending further updated information from the EGUSD,” CIF said in a prepared statement. “The EGUSD has stated that it should be providing the CIF with updated information regarding its school’s ability to continue in the tournament. The CIF will then assess the updated information.”
Henry said she, too, wished for greater accountability for district leadership, pointing out that California state guidelines regarding school closures over coronavirus may not have been followed.
The guidelines call for differing levels of response depending on the number and severity of cases within any given district. In scenarios where no staff or students are infected, schools may remain open, per state guidelines.
The California Department of Public Health, however, released its guidelines on Saturday night, after Elk Grove had already announced its closure.
“Let’s be clear, they came out last night, they came out ex post facto if you will,” Beilenson said.
More California school closures?
Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David Gordon characterized the dissonance between the district’s decision as a complicated issue that hinged on language.
“They did work with the public health officials and they decided to move their spring break back and use the following week to try to prepare better to address this emergency,” Gordon said. “The protocol speaks to procedures for closing a school, a group of schools — they don’t speak to what Elk Grove did, which was to move the spring break.”
Elk Grove Unified was the first in the state to announce such a measure, although Gov. Gavin Newsom said it likely will not be the last.
“It’s a question of when – not if – some California public schools will face closure because of COVID-19,” Newsom said in a prepared statement. “School districts must prepare for these scenarios so that parents and children can plan for what would happen if their local school faced closure.”
Other local school districts have voiced their intention to stay open for the immediate future. The Sacramento City Unified School District said on Friday that someone connected to the district had been exposed to coronavirus and was self-quarantining, but schools were to remain open after an extra cleaning at Leonardo da Vinci School and C.K. McClatchy High School.
“Sac City Unified has not been advised to close or cease normal activities by the Sacramento County Public Health Department or the County Office of Education,” district officials told parents on Saturday. “Therefore, our schools will remain open until further notice and we will continue to take proactive measures such as disinfecting high touch areas and other on a daily basis.”
Steinberg said he and other local leaders will attempt to codify a more formal decision-making process regarding future closures of institutions and events in the area.
Pan, a pediatrician, emphasized common sense hygiene tips to prevent greater infection, such as frequent hand washing and avoiding touching one’s own face. He also noted that coronavirus is disproportionately detrimental to the elderly, but poses little risk to children.
Beilenson said that as of Monday, coronavirus testing will be much more available in Sacramento County due to greater assistance from LabCorp and Quest, increasing the number of tests capable of being run per day from 20 to hundreds or even thousands.
The first death in California due to coronavirus was announced Wednesday after a patient in Placer County with underlying health conditions succumbed to COVID-19. Cases have been reported in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo Counties as the worldwide death toll nears 3,800.
Meanwhile, the Grand Princess cruise ship, which has been carrying passengers infected with coronavirus, will be permitted to dock at the Port of Oakland Monday.
Representatives from the Elk Grove Unified School District did not return requests for comment.
This story was originally published March 8, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
