Delta variant puts a damper on students’ return to school

With thousands of San Jose students returning to the classroom, the long-awaited start of a fully in-person school year isn’t drumming up the level of excitement anticipated only a few months ago when an end to the coronavirus pandemic finally seemed in sight.

A surge of COVID-19 cases spurred by the highly contagious delta variant has many parents worried, yet again, about how safe their children will be in classrooms.

While San Jose Unified School District leaders say they’ve taken “every reasonable step to make schools safe,” some parents still say they have unanswered questions about what will happen when the inevitable occurs and kids are exposed to the circulating virus.

“The (delta) variant is very concerning, especially for my son in middle school where a lot of the kids are not going to be vaccinated,” said Michele Quanz, a downtown San Jose resident and parent of two children in the district. “I’m still not sure what they’re going to do if they have a shortage of teachers or a lot of kids are getting sick.”

Quanz said she’s been pushing district and school leaders to clarify what happens if a student tests positive, under what circumstances a student will be required to quarantine and how many cases it’ll take to warrant a full class quarantine or a school closure.

San Jose Unified became one of the first districts in the state to announce last month that teachers and staff must either be vaccinated or get tested for COVID-19 twice a week. Gov. Gavin Newsom made that a statewide mandate on Aug. 11.

In addition to the vaccination/testing rule, San Jose Unified also will require all students and staff to wear masks both inside and outside school buildings, regardless of vaccination status — a step beyond the state’s public health orders that call only for indoor maskwearing.

The district was also planning to send out a guide with more details on its COVID-19 safety protocols to parents.

“Obviously we can’t guarantee that it’s going to be 100% effective, but based on the guidance, we feel very confident that our students and staff will be as safe as we can possibly make them,” district spokesperson Jennifer Maddox said.

According to Maddox, as of Aug. 10, 2,458 of the district’s 2,693 staff members — or 91% — had reported they were fully vaccinated, leaving only 235 who will need to get tested twice a week unless they get shots. Maddox said the district has noticed a trend of lower vaccination rates among classified staff,

such as custodians, bus drivers and clerical staff, who generally earn lower wages than teachers or school leaders.

“We continue to try and ensure employees have access to information about the vaccine and why getting it is important,” she said. “And we’re expecting to see that number grow as the days and weeks go on.”

Quanz said she was pleased to hear about the district’s vaccination mandate, but if given the choice, she would still keep her students — one middle schooler and one high schooler — at home for the start of the school year.

“I think if we didn’t have this delta variant, my comfort would be a lot higher,” Quanz said. “I understand that it’s not ideal for teachers to teach hybrid, but I feel like the district has really fallen short, especially if we have this surge with delta.”

Although California has required school districts to provide an online option for students this year, the hybrid learning approach where parents could choose whether to send their child to classes in person or have them take lessons virtually from home is no longer offered.

In San Jose Unified, parents can place their children in an independent-study program, but they’ll need to make that decision by the start of the school year and it’s much different from the distance learning students grew accustomed to last year.

For many parents, the idea of keeping their children at home for a full school year wasn’t one they contemplated.

“I have COVID anxiety again if you will, but my husband and I both work and we really need them in school so that we can work and be better parents to them,” said Tracy Misiewicz, a parent of a kindergartner and second grader at River Glen School. “There’s always some risk in life, but I have full confidence that (the school leaders and teachers) will do the best that they can do.”

Across the country, pediatric cases of COVID-19 are soaring along with cases among unvaccinated adults, indicating that the hyper-transmissible delta variant is taking the biggest toll on those who are either choosing not to get vaccinated or cannot get vaccinated for various reasons, including millions of children younger than 12.

The risk became clear earlier this month when two of the first Bay Area school districts —

Liberty Union High and Brentwood Union in eastern Contra Costa County — reported dozens of COVID-19 cases among students in the first few days of the school year, although most were infected off campus.

As of Aug. 12, 79.8% of Santa Clara County residents 12 years of age or older have been fully vaccinated. The county is averaging more than 250 new COVID-19 cases per day — growing more than fivefold over the past month, according to county data.

San Jose Unified officials and union leaders are hoping that the district’s proactive testing mandate coupled with masking requirements and good sanitation practices will prevent an outbreak in San Jose.

“I don’t think anyone goes outside in the current situation without a little trepidation because there remains a lot of unknowns with COVID and the delta variant certainly gives us pause, but I think we’ve taken every reasonable step to make schools safe,” said Patrick Bernhardt, president of the San Jose Teachers Association.

Gabriel Gutierrez, parent of a third grader at Empire Gardens Elementary School, said he was looking forward to his daughter being able to interact with kids her age during the school day again for the first time in nearly a year and a half. But, he said, that doesn’t mean he’s not nervous about the possibility of her getting infected.

“She knows what’s going on but sometimes she gets caught up seeing her friends and we’ve got to constantly remind her to social distance,” he said while playing with his daughter at a playground. “I’m sure they’re going to take all the precautions, but I still worry a lot.”