More Than 40 South Bay School Principals Quarantined: Reports

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — More than 40 South Bay school principals have been quarantined after being exposed to the coronavirus last month during an in-person meeting of administrators held by the Santa Clara Unified School District, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

An asymptomatic person who attended the June 19 meeting tested positive for COVID-19 a few days later, Superintendent Stella Kemp said at an online school board meeting last week, according to the report.

“Given the complexity required in the development of our reopening plan, some of our staff meetings are taking place in person,” said Kemp, according to the report.

“Of course those meetings are being conducted under the strict guidelines provided to us by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.”

Santa Clara County’s public health order doesn’t address how many people should attend a meeting, but the order says only those performing essential functions they “cannot feasibly perform from home may come to a business’s facility to work.”

Kemp said the meeting was essential, according to The Chronicle report.

But some questioned the need to hold the meeting in person.

Bonnie Lieberman, a parent, told NBC Bay Area she believes the district’s decision to hold the meeting doesn’t reflect well on its judgment.

“I'm mad, I’m disappointed, I’m concerned," Lieberman said.

"There were over forty people in the room. It doesn’t give me or any other parents much confidence that the district can make appropriate decisions about safety.”

Read more in The San Francisco Chronicle