Principals exposed:
Presymptomatic person with virus attended indoor meeting with at least 40 Santa Clara County school administrators.
News that more than 40 Santa Clara principals and other district officials were exposed to the coronavirus when they met inside weeks ago prompted county officials to question Thursday the wisdom of such a large inperson gathering.
County officials said that the seemingly unnecessary gathering was “a lesson for other government agencies.”
The incident raises questions about how seriously some public officials are taking the pandemic, even as cases are spiking across Bay Area counties, including Santa Clara. Public health officials have urged people to avoid inperson meetings with those not in their homes and to wear masks at all times. It’s unclear why the district’s meeting was not held via video conference.
Districts across the state are debating how and when to reopen schools to students, with some urging inperson learning and others arguing for distance learning. The potential exposure to COVID19 among principals and Santa Clara Unified leaders sounded alarms for those worried about sending children back too soon.
The meeting of Santa Clara Unified School District administrators on June 19 to discuss school reopening plans included a presymptomatic individual who tested positive for the coronavirus just a few days later, district officials said.
District Superintendent Stella Kemp confirmed the exposure to the school board during an online meeting last week.
“Given the complexity required in the development of our reopening plan, some of our staff meetings are taking place in person,” Kemp said. “Of course, those meetings are being conducted under the strict guidelines provided to us by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.”
Amber Wacht, president of the United Teachers of Santa Clara, who was among those at the inperson meeting, said it wasn’t the first such gathering in the district, but probably the largest.
She said all health protocols were followed, including social distancing and masks.
“My concern is even though we were following the protocols like we were supposed to, there was still exposure,” she said, adding she worries about the implications for teachers and students in the fall.
Wacht said she got an email about four days after the meeting notifying her of the exposure. She was tested about a week ago and received her negative test results Thursday.
She said she needed to attend to get information about reopening, but “I felt it could have been done with Zoom.”
Such large gatherings have been prohibited in general, but because education is considered an essential service, it’s up to local governments, including school districts, to determine what kinds of activities are essential, Santa Clara County officials said in a statement sent to The Chronicle.
“Our recommendation has always been that to the extent possible, meetings should not be in person and should happen virtually,” according to the statement attributed to the County of Santa Clara, which is a separate entity from the county Office of Education. “In this case, it is not clear why meeting in person was necessary. It is a lesson for other government agencies — even though they have the authority to hold an inperson meeting, it does not mean they should exercise the right to do so.”
The county’s schools superintendent, Mary Ann Dewan, however, said such inperson meetings are permitted as long as health guidelines are followed.
“Based on our review, the district appropriately followed the social distancing guidelines and took the necessary precautions to prevent transmission as outlined by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department,” Dewan said.
District officials did not respond to questions regarding the use of masks by all participants. They also declined to specify the exact number of attendees.
Some members of the school board questioned Kemp’s decision to hold an inperson meeting.
“I got calls from several educators who are a little panicked about the COVID exposure at the principals meeting,” said Santa Clara Unified Board of Education member Vickie Fairchild. “I personally was surprised, because of what I’ve heard other school districts doing, that we had a meeting of around 45 people, when I think indoor meetings are recommended to be around 10.”
The Santa Clara County public health order does not give a recommendation on the number of people attending a meeting but does state, “Only those employees performing job duties that they cannot feasibly perform from home may come to a business’s facility to work.”
The superintendent insisted the meeting was necessary, adding that everyone who attended was tested afterward following confirmation of the positive case.
“We do not have administrators that have tested positive for COVID19 as a result of being present at the meeting,” said Jennifer Dericco, spokeswoman for the school district.
Dericco said the administrators were advised to shelter in place following the exposure, in accordance with county orders, although she did not clarify what was required of them. Initially, the superintendent said they were told to quarantine, but later walked back that statement.
On Tuesday, Santa Clara County health officials gave schools a guide for reopening for inperson instruction in the fall but said they should be ready to resume instruction remotely if coronavirus conditions demand shutdowns. The district is hoping to open classrooms on Aug. 17.
Health officials reported 185 new cases of the coronavirus in Santa Clara County on Thursday, bringing the county’s case total to 4,750. The number of hospitalized COVID19 patients has doubled in the past two weeks, with 10 additional people hospitalized in the past day, bringing the total to 80 patients, according to the county’s COVID19 tracker. There have been 159 deaths in the county.
Aidin Vaziri and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: avaziri@ sfchronicle.com, jtucker@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker, @avaziri
“I got calls from several educators who are a little panicked about the COVID exposure at the principals meeting.”
Vickie Fairchild, Santa Clara Unified Board of Education member