District lays out strategy for mask mandate
Dr. Cathy Nichols-Washer, superintendent of the Lodi Unified School District, released a list of tiered strategies on Thursday that staff and teachers might use to enforce the state’s mask mandate when students return to campus next week.
The list comes two days after the district’s Board of Education directed staff to follow a California Department of Public Health mask mandate, despite heavy opposition from parents.
The mandate requires all students and staff to wear masks indoors on school sites. Masks are optional in outdoor settings, and Washer said school sites will utilize outdoor areas as much as possible.
Washer on Thursday said that examples of tiered strategies to implement the mask mandate include providing face masks for those who do not have one; providing face shields or drapes as appropriate; placing desk shields in classrooms; implementing 3 feet of social distancing; meetings between administrators and students; communication from administration to parents; meetings between administration and parents; and parents receiving a letter from the district offering an alternative learning environment for their student.
These tiered approaches will be enacted when a student does not comply with the mask mandate.
The alternative learning environment could be independent study, the district’s Digital Academy, Independence School, or the Valley Robotics Academy.
All school districts and county offices of education are required to offer alternatives to students whose health may be “put at risk due to in-person instruction.”
The district will be offering independent study for grades K-3, which includes transitional kindergarten and opportunities for daily synchronous instruction; grades 4-8, which includes opportunities for both daily live instruction and at least weekly synchronous instruction; and grades 9-12, which offers opportunities
for at least weekly synchronous instruction.
To enroll your K-6 student in the independent study program or the Digital Academy, email Dr. Stacy Kahn at skahn@lodiusd.net. If your student is in grades 7-12, email Dr. Dominee Kimball at dkimball@lodiusd.net.
For information about Independence School or Valley Robotics Academy, visit www.lodiusd.net.
Like last spring, when students returned to campus for in-person instruction, Washer said the district will also implement a layered system of COVID-19 prevention strategies, beginning with providing information to students and parents on healthy habits.
Each classroom has an air filter, all schools have hand sanitizing stations outdoors, and hand sanitizer is available for all classrooms.
School and classroom cleaning/sanitization procedures will continue, and staff will space students apart as much as possible during lunch, as well as when they arrive on campus and leave.
Quarantine protocols will be followed, and students must stay home if they are ill. Students who become sick on campus will be sent home, Washer said.
Fully vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who may be exposed to COVID19 must quarantine for 10 days from the day they were exposed if they are symptomatic, followed by 24 hours with no fever without the use of medication.
Unvaccinated individuals who were exposed but are asymptomatic must still quarantine for 10 days, or seven days with a negative test result. The test must be taken on or after the fifth day of quarantine.
Unvaccinated individuals who were exposed while wearing a mask can continue to come to school after a 10-day quarantine if they are asymptomatic, continue to mask appropriately, undergo twice-weekly testing during the quarantine, and continue to quarantine for all extracurricular activities.
Washer said the district students will be able to attend field trips again this year, and assemblies will be held on campuses with modifications.
The district will not tolerate bullying or harassment toward students or staff regarding masks, she said.
“We greatly appreciate your understanding and support as we start this school year,” Washer said. “We want all teachers, support staff, administrators, and students to focus on teaching and learning.”
The first day of school at LUSD is Aug. 2.