Universal masking indoors is one of the COVID related protocols in the Healdsburg Unified School District’s recently amended COVID-19 Protection Plan.
As the new school year starts, the Healdsburg Unified School District (HUSD) is implementing its amended COVID-19 Protection Plan to align with new state public health guidance on quarantine protocols, home screening and other protocols that help ensure all students have access to safe, in-person learning.
HUSD Director of Student Support Services Diane Conger, presented the amended protection plan to the HUSD School Board of Trustees on Aug. 18.
The California Department of Public Health updated its COVID-19 guidance for K-12 schools on Aug. 2. The foundational principle of the new guidance is that all students must have access to safe, in-person learning and to as much instructional time as possible.
Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance and state guidance, the district will no longer be conducting in-person health screenings on school sites.
Instead, students and staff will have to conduct their own health screening prior to attending school.
The other big change to COVID protocols is around quarantine guidelines.
Quarantine guidelines are now modified so that if a student, staff or school community members tests positive for COVID-19 the school will not be shut down and will be allowed to continue operating in-person.
State and county guidelines on isolation and quarantining vary depending on the scenario. For a confirmed positive COVID case with or without symptoms, the COVID positive person would have to isolate for 10 days and may return after day 11 or later when symptoms have improved and the person is fever free for 24 hours.
If a student or staff member has symptoms and is waiting for test results, then the student or staff member must stay home, but class can remain open.
For a fully vaccinated person, student or staff member who came in close contact with a confirmed positive case, quarantine is not required. COVID testing is recommended three to five days after exposure or as soon as possible if symptoms are developing. The student or staff member should monitor for symptoms for 14 days.
For a preschool student or an unvaccinated staff member who comes into close contact with a confirmed COVID positive case, the student or staff member must quarantine at home for 10 to 14 days.
For a mask on mask exposure or positive scenario, the person can qualify for a modified quarantine but cannot attend extracurricular activities for 10 days. They also must remain asymptomatic and get tested two times a week for 14 days.
For an unmasked or partially masked scenario, the individual must quarantine at home for seven to 10 days and will not qualify for the modified quarantine.
“When a child is exposed to a COVID-19 case, they have a few different options,” Jenni Straight, a nurse on the schools team for the county department of health, said during an Aug. 10 county webinar on back to school and COVID protocols. “If exposure happens at school and the student is K-12, they are eligible for modified quarantine programs if both the infected and the contact are fully masked. Students can stay in school for a 10-day quarantine period and test two times weekly.”
Similarly, rules on closing down classrooms or schools have also changed. “If there are one or two cases in a classroom, we don’t close down classrooms or schools,” Straight said during the webinar. “We now go on a case-by-case basis. If we have a cluster of cases, if they all seem to be connected epidemiologically, we may close that classroom to step back and reassess. If we have multiple classrooms with multiple outbreaks — three or more per class — we may have to close schools. But we have seen schools in general are safe, there’s not a lot of transmissions at schools.”
In terms of masking, universal masking is required for all students and staff while indoors, unless those employees are alone in an office/classroom. Students and staff with medical exemptions will be addressed on a case-by-case basis.
According to Conger, universal masking is what allows for the modified quarantine practices under certain conditions in K-12 settings.
Masks are encouraged, but not required outdoors.
Recent evidence about physical distancing indicates that in-person instruction can occur safely without minimum physical distancing requirements when other mitigation strategies such as masks are implemented, according to CDC K-12 guidance.
However, the district will continue to encourage staff and students to practice physical distancing when possible and practical, especially when unmasked outdoors.
Regarding vaccination, all HUSD staff will be required to show proof of vaccination or undergo weekly COVID PCR testing.
Conger said they’re encouraging parents to show proof of student vaccinations to aid in contact tracing and quarantine analysis.
According to Conger and HUSD Superintendent Chris Vanden Heuvel, the district is at a staff vaccinations level of 96%.
Vanden Heuvel said as vaccine boosters start up, the district may work with Alliance Medical Center again in order to get booster shots for district staff.
Other measures to limit COVID
Other measures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 include use of ventilation while indoors, cleaning and disinfecting when appropriate, eating outdoors as much as possible, maintaining physical distancing when eating indoors and cleaning and sanitizing in between meals, encouraging the practice of good hand hygiene and limiting non-essential visitors to school campuses.
