Virus cases cropping up at local schools

With in-person classes open less than a week, dozens of students and staff at two Brentwood school districts are being quarantined after being exposed to 13 peers in elementary schools and 10 in high schools who apparently have COVID-19, authorities confirmed Monday.

Brentwood Union School District Superintendent Dana Eaton said that through contact tracing, it’s been determined that none of the 13 elementary school students caught the virus on campus.

Regardless, 55 students and two staff members came into contact with the 13 infected with the coronavirus in elementary schools, which opened on July 28, and they are now in quarantine, Eaton said.

The elementary school district’s website posted a dashboard Monday that reported 12 students and one staff member from eight of its 11 schools had the coronavirus as of 12:25 p.m. Those with COVID-19 who never came to campus were not included, officials said.

Eaton said Contra Costa Health Services has warned “we should expect positive cases in our schools” reflective of the positivity rate of their communities.

“Currently there have been 205 positive cases in Brentwood over the last 14 days, so it is to be expected that the schools will have cases,” Eaton said. “Our goal is to follow the California Department of Public Health Safety Guidance to prevent the spread of positive cases at school.”

Contra Costa health officials said there’s not enough data yet to predict what will happen in schools, since most have not yet opened. On Monday, in response to the spread of the delta variant, Bay Area health officials announced that everyone must wear makes inside workplaces and businesses, regardless of whether they’ve been vaccinated.

Liberty Union High School District Superintendent Eric Volta said he will mandate indoor masks at all times and continue to follow all the other social distancing and cleaning guidelines to prevent transmission.

The district, which opened its three high schools on Thursday, does not take temperature checks of students but is asking people to self-monitor.

The three high schools in Brentwood and Oakley reported nine students and one staff member had the coronavirus, but Volta said contact tracing is still being conducted to see whether anyone was exposed to them.

Brentwood councilmember Jovita Mendoza, who has a daughter enrolled in a Brentwood high school, said she is concerned about the new delta variant and hopes people will abide by the health mandates to keep schools open.

“I get the numbers every single day and we’ve had like a death a week in Brentwood recently,” she said. “So it’s really sad.”

“We want them in schools,” she added. “And I think that’s fantastic. But just be respectful of the mask mandate… If everyone did that, I think we’d, you know, keep it to a minimum.”

School officials say they are glad to be back and are following all the guidelines to prevent transmission.

Brentwood Unified School District board President Scott Dudek said the coronavirus case numbers were much better in June when the board decided to fully reopen schools.

“At this point here, we have no intention of going back to hybrid or anything like that, but obviously we’ll be watching the numbers and that decision will be made,” he said, noting the state rules that temporarily allowed hybrid and distance learning for public schools expired on June 30.

Students who don’t feel comfortable attending inperson can pursue existing independent or homeschool study, officials said.

In nearby Antioch, Superintendent Stephanie Anello said nearly 100 students from Oakley, Lafayette and Walnut Creek have expressed interest in the district’s newly created Thomas Gaines Virtual Academy and she expects to have about 500 enrolled by today.

“I am truly grateful we had the foresight to form the virtual academy when we knew that many parents found it to work better for their students and families and that many parents may not be ready to send their children back to in-person learning,” she said. “To help other districts, we are trying to help their families who may want a virtual option as well.”

Both Brentwood superintendents said they’re optimistic they’ll be able to keep their schools open despite the spread of the delta variant.

“Actually, if there has been one thing proven right regarding the CDC and CDPH guidance is that schools need to be open for business and students need to be in class and with their peers,” Volta said.

“I truly hope we don’t go backward,” he added. “As a high school district with high school-aged students, all are eligible to be vaccinated. That is the best chance for students not to miss school and activities.”

Eaton agreed that his district will do all it can to keep schools open and won’t consider closing unless health officials recommend it.

“We are hopeful that our community will help us keep all schools open by following the CDPH guidance, staying home when they are sick and getting vaccinated,” Eaton said. “We are happy to be back fulltime. We want to do everything we can to keep it that way. … We are all in this together.“

Oakley Elementary School District did not reply to requests for comment.