COVID closes rural schools as Delta variant spreads

Just weeks after schools reopened for the school year, some rural California campuses are closing temporarily to stop coronavirus outbreaks from spreading among students and staff.

This week, at least five schools were closed to tamp down high COVIDinfection rates, with more planning to close next week. Others are waiting to see if the Labor Day weekend will reduce the COVID rates on their campuses, according to Patricia Gunderson, Lassen County superintendent of schools.

This situation is the reverse of what happened last year, when most urban and suburban school campuses were closed and many rural schools remained opened for in-person instruction amid low COVID rates. This year, with coronavirus rates and teacher

shortages worse in rural communities, these schools are struggling to stay open.

Complicating matters more is the requirement that quarantined students no longer have the option of distance learning. Instead, they are required to enroll in independent study, which comes with a list of requirements rural districts are having trouble meeting.

In Shasta County, two schools were closed this week because of high infection rates. Castle Rock Elementary School closed for a week because all 66 of its students were exposed to COVID-19. They will reopen Tuesday, according to the Record Searchlight. Anderson Middle School, which has 326 students, closed for a day because of COVID-related staffing shortages and then reopened, according to Judy Flores, Shasta County superintendent of schools.

In Tuolumne County, Summerville Union High School closed Thursday and Friday, and in Tehama County, Antelope Elementary School District closed Monday because of high infection rates among students and teachers. It will reopen Wednesday.

Next week, Lassen Union High School District in Susanville plans to close all three of its schools because more than 100 of its students are being quarantined. Nearby Diamond View Middle School, which also delayed reopening because of the Delta fire, has still been unable to open for the school year because of the high number of infections and quarantines among staff.

Last year, many of these same schools had low coronavirus rates and remained open when urban and suburban schools were closed. This year it’s the schools in rural communities —with higher COVID rates and lower vaccination rates — that are closing.

“The majority of small school districts were open last year — most face-toface — and we had very few cases,” said Tim Taylor, executive director of the Small School Districts’ Association. “The variant is the real deal, and I think all of us have underestimated its impact on schools.”