Superintendent Says Manhattan Beach Public Schools Reopen Dec. 8

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA —

Hello MBUSD Community,

I hope this email finds you healthy and well. At midnight, Governor Newsom’s newest restrictions kicked in. I appreciate the steps, some of which are painful, as they are designed to keep all of us safer. The good news is that the Governor and the County both continue to prioritize education, and nothing has changed regarding schools reopening or providing in-person instruction. But these numbers are not going to go down until we all do everything we can to keep ourselves, and each other, safe. You can find details about the numbers in LA County and the Governor’s restrictions in this outstanding LA Times resource, Tracking the Coronavirus in LA County.

As we prepare for our TK-2 opening on Tuesday, I would like to refer you to several pieces of helpful information:

• A new and updated health and safety protocols guidebook that is essential for the safe operations of our hybrid programs.
• A 15-minute-screencast for our families with students entering the TK-2 hybrid this week.
• We have a new screening tool, Ruvna, which is every bit as important as mask-wearing. We have avoided many cases of COVID-19 in our schools through employee and parent health screening. Relying on honest answers, if employees or students exhibit any of the symptoms/behaviors listed below, they may not set foot into our schools. If any of the following exist, this screening tool will confirm that an employee or a student should not be on campus, or anywhere besides the safety of their own home or their doctor’s office:
• Fever of 100.4 or higher (or feeling feverish - chills or sweating)
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
• A new cough
• Traveled out of state in the last 14 days
• Attended a social gathering with others outside of the household since November 30th (not including supervised educational settings, sports conditioning, faith based services, or protests)

You can find all of the information above, and more, in an email I sent to elementary parents on Friday afternoon.

This weekend I spoke with Dr. Dan Stepenosky, the Superintendent of Las Virgenes Unified School District in Calabasas/Agoura Hills. TK-2 students there have been back on campus since November 9, and while there was initially some anxiety around reopening, now students and employees love seeing each other in person, it feels very safe, and problems have been minimal.

Finally, we have been busy this weekend working with LACDPH on some of the COVID cases that were reported. All of our on-campus cases are recorded on our COVID Dashboardand over the last 14 days, we have seen seven active cases. In each case, our COVID Compliance Team follows strict contact tracing protocols, and communicates with all those who may need to quarantine for fourteen days or until a person is tested. Three of the most recent cases were connected to MBMS and were reported to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) in the week before Thanksgiving and during the break. On Friday, December 4, LACDPH let us know they are opening an outbreak investigation. While none of the cases had any person interacting with students or personnel in the classrooms, LACDPH indicated they may recommend closing the site for two weeks. In an abundance of caution, we are proactively closing the MBMS campus tomorrow pending further guidance from LACDPH. You can find the letter that we sent to MBMS families here.

In summary, I urge you all to follow the Governor’s protocols. My oldest son turns 30 years old this month, and I had planned to see him to celebrate with him. That’s off now. I hate it, but it’s the right thing to do. We will celebrate at a later date, and it will be even more special then. I haven’t seen my parents in almost one year, and I’m hoping I can see them in April. These are the kind of personal stories that I hear all of the time from MBUSD employees and families, and I hope we can reverse these trends and get back on the right track.

Thanks for doing your part to keep you, your family, and all of us safe,

Mike Matthews
MBUSD Superintendent