Dear Families,
We appreciate all of your efforts to keep our staff and students safe and schools open. We wanted to take this moment to provide you with updates regarding measures we have implemented in order to navigate this COVID spike with the onset of Omicron.
Our Human Resources department has hired 27 additional substitute teaching staff during the 2021-22 school year. This strategy has worked well as we have had enough substitutes and other staff to cover any vacancies we have had in classrooms.
We added an additional testing day for staff and extended the hours of our Friday testing clinic. We realize these slots have filled up very quickly and that we have a need for more. At this time, however, the company we are contracting with cannot commit to additional testing clinics in BUSD. When we have multiple positive cases in one classroom, we will work to provide on site testing for those classes. Parents will need to sign a consent through a link that will be sent through Parent Square if this is needed. We are also linking alternate testing sites here for your convenience: Solano County – COVID-19 Vaccines.
Before winter break, we sent home the testing kits that were allotted to BUSD for all staff and students. This strategy was extremely effective in limiting positive cases upon the return to school on January 6, 2022. We have provided N95 or KN95 masks to all staff who want them and will continue to do so. It is vitally important that students continue to wear a snug fitting mask that securely fits over the nose and mouth. Medical masks are more effective than cloth masks, and properly fitted N-95 or KN95 masks are more effective than medical masks. Students may also choose to wear a cloth mask over a medical mask to help with the seal.
We understand that some may be wondering if we are going to close schools. Please know BUSD plans to keep our schools open and will do everything we can in that regard, doing so in a manner that follows CDPH guidelines. The law that allowed for distance learning ended last school year and does not allow for that option this year unless a situation presented itself where insufficient staff were available to run schools and all options were fully exhausted.
As a follow-up to the communication we sent out Monday, please see the charts below with a detailed explanation of the new CDPH guidelines as they related to the quarantine protocols.
As always, we appreciate your partnership in keeping our schools open and staff and students healthy.
Sincerely,
Charles F. Young, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Anyone Testing Positive for COVID-19 | |
Persons Who Test Positive for COVID-19 (Isolation) | Recommended Action |
All regardless of vaccination status or symptoms |
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*Close Contact Exposure to a Positive Person with COVID-19–Not Fully Vaccinated | |
Persons Who are Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (Quarantine) | Recommended Action |
Persons Who are Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (Quarantine)
*Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of someone who is positive for more than 15 minutes in 24 hours. |
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*Close Contact Exposure to a Positive Person with COVID-19–Fully Vaccinated | |
Persons Who are Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (No Quarantine) | Recommended Action |
Persons Who are Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (No Quarantine)
*Close contact is defined as being within 6 feet of someone who is positive for more than 15 minutes in 24 hours. |
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