District: 21 staff, students out with COVID-19

‘From our perspective, what we’ve seen so far is that our safety protocols are working’

Unlike some school districts across the nation that have seen COVID-19 outbreaks after returning to the classroom, San Jose Unified has recorded just 21 positive tests in the first five days of school — and none of them were contracted on campus, according to the district.

Of the 21 reported COVID-19 patients, five staff members and 16 students — ranging from elementary school to high school — have tested positive for the virus, according to district spokesperson Jennifer Maddox.

The cases are spread across about 15 schools, including Walter L. Bachrodt Elementary, Willow

Glen High and San Jose High. The highest number of cases reported at a single school is three — an instance in which three siblings all tested positive, Maddox said.

In addition to the 21 students and staff who have been infected, about 20 students have been instructed to isolate or quarantine as a result of exposure, Maddox said.

“From our perspective, what we’ve seen so far is that our safety protocols are working,” she said. “There is no evidence that students are getting the virus from a classmate or students at school.”

The district of 30,000 students was one of the first in the state to announce last month that teachers and staff must either be vaccinated or get tested for COVID-19 twice a week. District officials also went a step beyond the state’s public health orders to require that students and staff wear masks both inside and outside school buildings, regardless of vaccination status.

UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. George Rutherford said the district’s low case rate speaks to how well those precautions and Santa Clara County’s high vaccination rate — nearly 81% of eligible residents — are working.

“I view it as good news, especially knowing that there’s no transmission in the classroom,” Rutherford said. “You have to put it into context. When there are hundreds of new cases each day in the county, there are bound to be some among people ages 5 to 18.”

San Jose Unified released the overall cases numbers in response to a request from the Bay Area News

Group.

Instead of setting up a publicly accessible online dashboard to inform parents and students of each positive case across its 41 school sites — which some districts in the state have done — San Jose Unified is sending out a series of notifications each time a positive case is reported.

First, the district sends out a blanket email to every parent at the school where a positive case is reported, informing them about the matter. Then, those whose children have been in close contact with the student or staff member will receive a second email, informing them that their student is required to quarantine or that they are not but are welcome to get a COVID-19 test at one of the district’s three testing sites.

Close contact is described as being within six feet of a person with a coronavirus infection for at least 15 minutes within a 24-hour period.

Under the district’s policy, vaccinated students who are in close contact with someone who tests positive for the virus do not need to quarantine unless they develop symptoms. Vaccinated students who are identified as close contacts and show symptoms must receive a negative test result before returning to school. Those who test positive or those who are unvaccinated and are in close contact with someone who tests positive must isolate for 10 days.

Students who are forced to isolate at home are placed in a short-term independent study program where their teachers will provide them with work to complete each day in order not to be marked absent.

Kristen Wallace, a parent of fourth and fifth grade students at Reed Elementary School, has yet to receive a letter from the district informing her of a positive case at her children’s school but she’s cautiously anticipating that day will come, she said.

“It’s unnerving to just send them off each day and hope for the best,” Wallace said. “Me, as a parent having no way to prevent that (a COVID-19 infection in her children) from happening — it’s very scary.”

Until her children are permitted to get their shots, Wallace is urging the district to more strictly enforce students or their parents to complete a health screening and submit their results to the district before reporting to school each day — a practice that was more common at job sites and health care facilities earlier in the pandemic.

“Even if you could fake it,” she said, “at least it would have people thinking about the symptoms and exposure potential.”