Students account for majority of COVID cases in LUSD

District’s daily average attendance nearly 10% below enrollment

The vast majority of all reported positive COVID-19 cases in Lodi Unified School District since Jan. 22 have been among students, a district official said during Tuesday night’s board meeting.

During a presentation, Leonard Kahn, the district’s chief business officer, told the board students accounted for 68% of positive cases. Of those cases, 46% have been reported among students between the ages of 10 and 19 years old.

In addition, 54% of all positive cases were reported from elementary schools, and 26% were from high schools, according to the report.

In all, there have been a total of 150 positive cases reported between Jan. 22 and Aug. 10.

Kahn told the board that it appears the cases are coming into schools, and not developing or spreading there. He added that the amount of cases being reported, and their origin seem to be a repeat of the COVID-19 situation in the spring when students first returned to campus.

“We thought we’d all come back to a light year with vaccines distributed and we’re all in high spirits,” Kahn told the board. “But things are spreading and spreading quickly, especially at the elementary level. We are still under very stringent, onerous reporting requirements, and the amount of reporting being done daily is phenomenal.”

Kahn said the first week of the 2021-22 school year, which began on Aug. 2, was “not too concerning.” However, when the second week began on Aug. 9, he said 24 cases had been reported. Another 10 cases were reported the following day.

According to Kahn’s report, more than 80 cases have been in the elementary schools, while 40 have been at the high schools. Nearly 20 have been reported at the middle schools.

“Throughout the spring, as we were initially going through vaccinations, we were really lucky to hit about eight positive case reports a day in this district, and that includes the point at which students came back,” Kahn said. “I know a lot of students remained on remote status, but it was still rare to get that kind of spike.”

Kahn’s report was made as part of the discussion regarding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s requirement that all school employees and students be vaccinated or be tested on a weekly basis.

The board and staff did not address the requirement, but Kahn said the district views the order as requiring testing more than

vaccinations.

While the order went into effect last week, Superintendent Cathy NicholsWasher said the school district must be in full compliance with it by Oct. 15.

Morada Middle School teacher Lisa Wilkins questioned the number of cases and exposures reported. She said while the district reported 74 students being exposed or quarantined on Aug. 13, her school site alone had 38 of 735 absent students due to COVID-19 that day. Another 22 students were absent for other unidentified absences, she said.

“I think if you went to the school sites, and you really look at the full reports on who is absent and why, you would see that there is just no way these numbers are correct, and that’s very concerning,” she said. “We have a duty to help protect these children and our community, but also our teachers as well, and whoever works on the school sites. Having reports that are accurate is important.”

According to the district’s exposure notification webpage, there have been 137 exposures at schools between Aug. 2 and 17.

Enrollment at the district has declined overall, the district said on Wednesday. Total enrollment on Aug. 13 was 27,456, but average daily attendance numbers for Tuesday were at 24,878.

There have been 11 reported exposures at Lodi High School, the most in the district. McNair High School has reported eight exposures, while Millswood Middle School has reported seven, and both Lawrence and Lakewood elementary schools have reported six, according to the district.

As of Wednesday, there have been 81,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,489 deaths in San

Joaquin County since the pandemic began last year, according to the California Department of Public Health.

There were 213 new cases reported Wednesday and one new death, the CDPH said.

In addition, there were 221 people hospitalized with COVID-19 Wednesday, an increase of 18 from the day prior.

The county’s new case rate was 30.6 per 100,000 residents Wednesday and its test positivity rate was 8.7%.