SRVUSD High School Outbreak: 8 Sickened

SAN RAMON VALLEY, CA — Three students and five staff members at an alternative high school in Danville have tested positive for COVID-19, multiple media outlets report.

The incident has spurred San Ramon Valley School District to implement stronger safety protocols for teachers who work with students who are medically unable to wear a mask.

The outbreak occurred in a Del Amigo High School classroom with developmentally disabled students, NBC Bay Area reported. Most of the students and all of the staff working in the class — plus some family members — were sickened days after the students returned to campus, Bay Area News Group reported.

All staff and students in the class are remaining home for 14 days, said Superintendent John Malloy.

Special education students were among a limited number of students who returned to class Nov. 17. The district did not learn there were any COVID-19 cases in the classroom until Nov. 23.

He apologized for the outbreak, which occurred after one COVID-19-positive student came to school and spread the coronavirus among the classroom. The person was among a minority of students who are exempted from mask requirements because they are medically unable to wear one, Malloy said.

SRVUSD health protocols were not followed in this incident, he said.

Sick students should be sent to the nurse's office, where a screening area for students with COVID-19 symptoms has been established outside of the health room, Malloy said. From there, nurses make a determination as to whether a student should be sent home, in consultation with the principal.

In this case, he said, the student's temperature was taken and their parent was directly contacted.

SRVUSD is working with staff to ensure they understand this protocol, Malloy said. The district has also changed its policy to outfit each teacher with a face shield and fitted N-95 mask if they are working with unmasked students; previously, teachers with unmasked students wore a face shield and standard two-ply mask.

"I'm sorry that this happened," Malloy said. "I also believe that we are stronger because of the steps that we've taken in light of it."

Families are asked to screen students at home and keep their children home if they are showing symptoms. SRVUSD expects any families who want their kids to participate in-person to ensure students wear masks, maintain social distancing and agree to sanitize their hands, he said.

Schools will encounter difficulty if these protocols are not followed, Malloy said.

"If we're going to get through this effectively ... we've got to work together on every level," he said.

The district does not require temperature checks, in consultation with public health officials, Malloy said. Such a requirement could make it difficult for students to maintain social distancing while waiting in line and pose a privacy issue if one student is singled out by stepping out of line in front of others.

While the in-person component of the affected class is closed, the campus remains open. A campus would only close if multiple classrooms were exposed to COVID-19, he said.

Del Amigo High has been cleaned and sanitized.

The outbreak has led to increased fears about reopening schools during the height of the pandemic as cases locally and across the country continue to climb steeply.

"It has absolutely heightened some of the anxiety of returning to school," said Laura Finco, vice president of the San Ramon Valley Education Association, the union that represents teachers in the district.

"In a school you're in a smaller space for a longer period of time than you are in a grocery store or even getting your hair cut," Finco said.

The union has worked hard with the district to establish proper safety practices, she said.

"It comes down to people feeling safe on campuses and the best thing to do is be able to communicate and I believe we can always improve our line of communication and letting people know what's going on," Finco said.

The staff members affected by the Del Amigo outbreak are represented by the California School Employees Association Local 65. Tami Castelluccio, an officer with CSEA, declined to comment.

There are 600 students and staff at SRVUSD campuses as of Thursday, Malloy said. The district continues to consult with Contra Costa Health Services as it welcomes students back to campus.

Some 10,000 general education students who opted for the hybrid learning model are slated to return to the school's 36 campuses Jan. 5.

Contra Costa Health Services declined comment, saying it was unable to discuss details of outbreaks.

— Bay City News contributed to this report