Town Hall Meeting

No content available.

[9] SPEAKER_33: ¶¶ ¶¶ Good evening, everyone. Welcome. Good evening.

[70] SPEAKER_19: Welcome everyone. Good evening, everyone. Welcome. Thank you for joining us. We'll get started in about a minute or two as soon as we have some critical mass here. Welcome, everyone.

[173] SPEAKER_19: My name is Mark Triplett. I'm the superintendent here at Newark unified.

[178] Mark Triplett: Um, thank you for joining us this evening for this town hall related to, um, COVID safety measures. We're really glad that you're joining us. Um, before we get started, wanted to, um, create an opportunity to introduce the team that's, um, here tonight to present to you and answer questions. Um, so why don't we go ahead and, um, if team members could introduce themselves.

[203] SPEAKER_26: Good evening, everybody. I'm Catherine Ingham-Watters. I'm the Executive Director of Human Resources.

[210] SPEAKER_24: My name is Nicole Pierce-Davis, and I am the Assistant Superintendent of Ed Services.

[216] Marie dela Cruz: Good evening, everyone. My name is Marie Dela Cruz. I am the Chief Business Official for Newark Unified.

[223] SPEAKER_03: Good evening. I'm Ariel Dolowich. I'm the Director of Teaching and Learning in Educational Services.

[233] SPEAKER_27: Good evening, everyone. I'm Agnes Lopez. I'm the district nurse for Newark Unified.

[237] SPEAKER_25: Good evening. I'm Lucy Gutierrez, executive assistant to superintendent. Thank you.

[243] Mark Triplett: Great. And we also have with us Ms. Fossey, who is our ASL interpreter. Thank you, Ms. Fossey, for being with us also. All right, well, let's get started. Ms. Gutierrez, can you put up the presentation?

[261] SPEAKER_25: Yes, one second.

[288] Mark Triplett: All right, and as Miss Gutierrez is bringing us to the front of the beginning of the of the deck so just to just do a little framing so as you recall before the start of school, we had a our last town hall. and talked about starting of school, first days, as well as the safety measures and the steps that we had taken to prepare for in-person learning, as well as independent study. And we discussed COVID safety measures and what we were doing to make sure that we were starting the school off in a way that was safe and protected our students, staff, and families. So what we thought we would do tonight, we wanted to come back to you now that we've been in school for a little more than two weeks, I believe. and just reconnect, give you some updates. I know that there has been a lot of questions related to COVID and COVID safety. And as we all know from the news, the pandemic continues to change and evolve. And so we wanted to make sure that we were coming back to you, sharing the most recent guidelines and all the updates that we have related to COVID and COVID safety. You can also find a lot of information on our website. So there you will find much of the information that we're going to present tonight. In addition to other information, and some of that includes our most revised and updated safety plan. So, as you may recall, in the spring of last year we created a safety plan, it was approved by the county related to returning to in person learning. And part of the expectation of that safety plan is that all districts need to continue to update and revise the safety plan as things evolve with the virus and with COVID. And so we have done that. We just did our most recent revision of the safety plan, and that is posted on our website, and we will discuss aspects of that tonight. So our agenda looks like, talking about updates, we'll discuss safety protocols, and then we really want to create space for you to ask questions, and for us to be able to answer as many questions as possible, and then also to get feedback from you on things, not just questions, but also suggestions, ideas, and concerns that you may have related to the start of school, and in particular COVID safety. All right, so to start. We wanted to go back over our positive case reporting chart so anytime there is a positive COVID case in our schools, we have a number of different protocols that we follow and those are based on guidelines from the state and county. And so I'm going to go through a few of the very important ones. And then, of course, if you have questions later on, we really welcome any questions, and we'll do our best to answer. So this first thing that you're seeing is the process that we use when there is a report of a positive case. And so I'm just going to go over it relatively quickly. When we receive a report of a positive case, either a student or a staff member, That first is reported to anyone we first have it go to the principal of the school or the supervisor of the department that is not in the school, and that administrator does an initial preliminary research regarding the situation. So that means contacting the person who has the positive COVID case. That means person who has COVID and has tested positive for COVID. And then the administrator simultaneously is reporting this case to the following people there on the upper right side. So that includes the executive director of human resources, the director of maintenance team, administrator, supervisor, as well as the school nurse COVID liaison. And then what that does is at that point, that begins the contact tracing. So our COVID liaison school nurse, Nurse Lopez, initiates contact tracing with the, in partnership with the principal or the site administrator. And then from there, They identify instructions, including who was a possible close contact, possibly exposed to the positive case, and then the proper instructions for everyone who is involved in the situation. The nurse then emails members of our executive cabinet the maintenance director, coordinator of pupil services, manager of parent engagement, as well as the executive director of human resources informing all our labor partners that we at that point have a positive case. In this case, at this point, the identity of the person is not shared throughout this because we do need to respect the personal information and identity of all our students and staff. And then at that point, the communication goes out to the appropriate parties. And we'll talk a little bit more about that later in the town hall. But essentially, the administrator communicates directly with the staff and community that either were potential close contact, or in the case of the school community, the administrator is communicating with all school community members that there was a positive case on the school. And then at the same time, the school nurse is notifying Alameda County Department of Public Health and also communicating with specific individuals regarding next steps. So the next two slides are a little bit complicated, but wanted to make sure that you are aware of the steps that we take and the steps that our COVID liaison takes when there is a report of a positive case, and then doing contact tracing to identify other people that may have been exposed. And so essentially in these situations, there's three possible scenarios. One, as you see there on the top, does the person have symptoms of COVID-19, whether or not they're vaccinated or unvaccinated? Number two, was the person exposed and is not vaccinated? Or number three, was a person exposed and is vaccinated? And then based on the answer to those three questions, Then the COVID liaison goes through a series of steps to identify who needs to be contacted, who needs to quarantine, and who needs to isolate. And as you see on this flowchart, it's really related to is the person showing symptoms, are they vaccinated, have they been tested, et cetera. Can we go to the next slide, please? So likewise, the same flowchart or similar flowchart rather is followed for staff. And so same three scenarios are gone through and the given staff member is taken through that with regard to contact tracing to identify what next steps need to happen. In some cases, depending on the scenario, a person turns out was not a close contact and can return to work or school. In some cases, the person is identified as a close contact that needs to quarantine. And then in some situations, they need to be tested. In some situations, they need to be quarantined for longer than other situations. And all of this depends on vaccination or not being vaccinated, and also depends on whether they have symptoms or not. All of this information has been created by Alameda County Public Health in collaboration with a state public health system, and so we follow these same guidelines for every situation. So I wanted to shift gears a little bit and then talk about communication, because I know that is a big question that's come up for many people. Of course, we are entering a season where people are getting sick and not necessarily just from COVID. And so sometimes someone might be out sick and might be, number one, worried if they do have COVID, or number two, other people might be worried. They notice that person is out sick and worried. Does that person have COVID? And was I then close to that person? So was I exposed? So that is why we follow the same protocol outlined from the county public health in all of these cases, so that we're making sure that we are identifying accurately those who are in close contact, those who need to quarantine. And so one of the communication pieces, as I mentioned earlier, is for all close contacts or possible exposures, those people receive a letter within 24 hours. And that's communicated to individuals who were in close contacts. And it articulates the next steps that those people need to take. So in a case where someone is not sure whether they were a close contact, if they did not receive a letter, then that means that they are not a close contact. they did not receive a close contact letter specifically. Next slide. So the other letter and communication that goes out is to the whole community in which the case exists. And so in the case, in situation of a school, if there is a positive COVID case, we do send out a communication to the entire school community, notifying the school community that there has been a positive case that has been identified at that school. And we send this within 24 hours of the reporting of a confirmed case. We simultaneously report this to the county so that the county is aware that there is a confirmed COVID case. And then the third thing is we communicate this out on our COVID dashboard. So on our website now, we have a COVID dashboard, which reports on a weekly basis, the number of student cases and the number of staff cases that have been reported. I wanna reiterate, and I'll mention it again in a minute, that these are cases of either students or staff that were infectious while at school or work. And so that's really important. to note. There are situations where an individual may have gotten COVID and tested positive but was never in contact with the school and so therefore we do not report those out because that is not something that we are supposed to report those to the, we're not supposed to report those to the county and likewise there's no danger in those situations of exposure to any of the rest of our students or staff. So as you can see on this, oh, sorry, one last second, Ms. Gutierrez. So as you can see on this, this has been updated. It's updated every Tuesday and by five o'clock. It was updated today before five for this past week. And so this will be Monday through Sunday reporting out on all of the cases that were reported of people who were at school sites when they were infectious. And this past week, you can see we had nine cases nine student cases and zero staff cases. Prior week, we had two student cases, one staff, and the first couple days of school, we had one student case and one staff case. So we should expect that we will continue to have COVID cases. And that's something that we're just gonna need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to minimize spread. And we'll talk more about how we are doing that. all of the steps that all of our staff and students and families are taking to really make sure that we do minimize the spread of the virus. So a couple things to note about the data dashboard. This data is tracked in accordance with Alameda County Public Health. The information, like I said before, is on students or staff that are positive COVID cases who came to school or work during their infectious period. Cases are reported weekly. A case refers to a person who tested positive for COVID-19. And like I said, the school community receives the notice of a positive case within 24 hours. And likewise, close contacts receive a specific notice within 24 hours as well. And lastly, there have been questions about how do we determine a whole class quarantine and if that is ever needed. And so I wanted to share a little bit of the guidance from Alameda County Public Health. So there's two situations where that that we seek to make this determination. Our goal of course is We have a goal of the state schools guidance and that we're trying to keep children in classrooms safely to the greatest extent possible. And so when a COVID-19 case is identified in the classroom, every effort is made to determine which students are close contacts and every effort is made to avoid unnecessary quarantine of students who are not close contacts. Generally speaking, If all unvaccinated students in a class are found to be close contacts to a case, or if the close contact could not be ruled out for the class, then we are required to quarantine the whole class. And so we have had at least one situation where that was the case, and we probably have more. And we just need to make sure that we're following through on those situations and that everyone is doing their best to cooperate and to follow the process when that does occur. The other situation when a whole class quarantine is needed is if there is an actual outbreak of COVID. So what that means is if there is a situation where a positive case on one of our campuses has actually infected another person on one of our campuses. To this point, that is not something that's occurred to my knowledge. We have had We have had, as you can see, situations where we have positive cases on campus. However, we have had no cases that I am aware of at this point where someone on campus actually infected someone else on campus. And the reason for that, I believe, is because people have been doing a really good job of implementing the mitigation strategies. Masking. and making sure that follow safe hygiene practices, reporting cases when they come up, and taking all the proper steps. So if there is an outbreak, then the Alameda County Public Health Department team, outbreak team, actually makes that determination whether a class needs to be quarantined based on an outbreak. And this is determined on a case-by-case basis in partnership with the district. And so that is the other situation when a whole class or a school for that matter would need to be quarantined. This approach is gonna be reviewed at least monthly by ourselves and the county, and we will continue to update as needed. So the next part is to discuss around testing. I know there's been a lot of questions about that. And so to speak more on testing, I'm gonna turn it over to Ms. Ingham-Watters.

[1330] SPEAKER_26: Good evening. Thank you, Dr. Triplett. I would like to share with the community that Governor Newsom has mandated that school employees either provide proof of their vaccination or participate in weekly testing. The governor's mandate was shared on August 11th, and districts must be in full compliance with the mandate by October 15th. Newark Unified started collecting information from our staff members, proof of vaccination on August 20th, and we are continuing to collect proof of vaccination. For those staff members who do not provide proof of vaccination for any reason, maybe they're not vaccinated, maybe they do not want to provide proof, they will be tested weekly. Again, full compliance per the governor's order is October 15th, but Ms.dela Cruz will share more about Newark's testing implementation to begin shortly after Labor Day. Ms.dela Cruz.

[1415] Marie dela Cruz: Thank you, Ms. Singham-Waters. So the district has contracted with Predison, who's a COVID testing provider from Hayward. The registration process for employees started this week, and we will be providing the weekly testing starting next week. Predison will be going out to the school sites, two school sites a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. During the AM, the hours are from 7.30 to noon, and the PM is from 12.30 to 3.30. This testing is being provided to employees at no cost, and there will be staff from Predison there to assist. The testing is a PCR test, which is self-administered, and it is required for the unvaccinated. but it will also be available for those who are vaccinated, who choose to get tested. We will also, in the near future, provide testing for students. Once our staff testing has been fully implemented, we will provide student testing at no cost as well. There's been a question about athletes. Although it's not required, student athletes will also be provided the opportunity for testing in the near future.

[1519] SPEAKER_26: To talk a little bit about opportunities for vaccination, we will have a vaccination clinic on the evening of September 8th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Newark Memorial High School. It's the same night as back-to-school night, and that will take place in the STAR Lab, which is near the second parking lot, not the one by the stadium. And that is open to all, meaning students 12 and older, as well as any member of the community is able to visit the vaccination clinic at Newark Memorial. Another point that I would like to share is the vaccination rates in Newark, our community. Newark for ages 12 and older, have a 70% vaccination rate, which is really great for the community. But we really wanna continue encouraging our younger students to be vaccinated. In Newark, in the age range of 12 to 17, less than 45% of that age group in Newark is vaccinated. So we will continue to encourage vaccination opportunities hosted in our district as well as our community partnerships.

[1622] SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Miss Ingham-Watters. It deserves noting as a district that we are continuing to follow county public health guidelines. This includes requiring masks for students and staff. in all NUSD schools, grades TK through 12. We do understand, especially for students at different developmental levels, that there is a need for breaks. And to this end, we do have mask break zones available outdoors and during instructional breaks. Another safety guideline that we are ensuring that we're adhering to is physical distancing. Recent evidence does indicate that in-person instruction can occur and can continue to occur safely without minimum physical distancing requirements, especially when strategies against COVID-19 are put in place. And these strategies, as mentioned, include masking and what I'll speak to momentarily, including health and hand hygiene. Physical distancing does continue as much as possible outdoors during recess, and also during lunch with supervision. With respect to hand hygiene, we know that washing hands thoroughly, avoiding contact with one's eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as covering coughs and sneezes is essential in preventing the spread of all viruses, including COVID-19. And so that's a priority for our staff to continue teaching, reteaching, and placing an emphasis on routines and procedures as they pertain to washing hands throughout the day. All schools have been supplied by the district with adequate supplies, which includes soap, tissues, face coverings, and hand sanitizers. And so we'll continue to lift that up for our sites and make sure they have the requisite supplies. In addition to the cafeteria, outdoor spaces for eating lunch and snacks for recess are utilized as much as possible. We're making every effort to move eating outdoors when at all possible on all of our campuses, as we know it's safest to be outdoors. And we do know also services have a very low risk for transmission. However, they are cleaned daily at all sites and both before and after meals.

[1783] Marie dela Cruz: Thank you, Mr. Dolowich. In terms of airflow and ventilation, we've installed air purifiers with HEPA filters in all of our classrooms and offices and other spaces in the schools. We're frequently changing the HVAC air filters, and we've also provided air balancing to maximize the airflow in the classrooms for proper balance of indoor and outdoor air, according to the guidelines. We are continuing to clean and disinfect all of the high use surfaces that occur on a daily basis. We are using the disinfectant misting systems at all schools that is provided daily in all of our classrooms. In terms of contact tracing, I'm gonna have Ms. Lopez

[1847] SPEAKER_27: review this? So contact tracing and quarantine protocols will remain in effect utilizing the NESC-trained COVID liaison. That's myself. And families should complete a daily health check before coming to school. This is self-monitored and students are not required to present the results when entering the school.

[1879] SPEAKER_24: Now the state does recognize that we do have a small percentage of families who need additional supports, either due to health and safety issues or are in more vulnerable populations. And so for that reason, we do offer Crossroads Independent Study Program along with the state guidelines. This option really is for students. Sorry, I'll pause for a second. I'm moving a little fast. Thank you. This option really is for students, grades TK-12, who have health issues and must remain home for those health and safety reasons. Families who want their students to participate only in a remote learning setting, or those who are older, who just prefer an independent learning setting. And so at the end of this presentation, we are going to ask, we're going to have some time for Q&A as well as ask for some feedback. So I'm going to go through a quick timeline, sort of summarizing our journey in the last couple of years. And so that really starts with last year around distance learning and kind of our waiting for guidance around what the state would determine our next steps were. The next slide really issues once that guidance came out, which did not come out until around July 9th, kind of how we as a district shifted from our distance learning model to really providing in-person instruction and making sure that that is as safe as possible, as well as the independent study option for a small percentage of families who had that need. And then finally, where we are now, which really does focus on how we can continue to first get our employee vaccination and testing up. and then move beyond that. And then again, just reminding our families that we will continue to be flexible because guidance will continue to be updated and we are gonna continue to follow with those updates. And so just to reiterate, I believe what Ms. Ingham-Watters said earlier, we have already started the process of notifying our NUSD employees of this vaccination and testing plan. And we anticipate that it will be up and running after Labor Day. even though full compliance isn't mandated until October. So with that, I believe, Dr. Triplett, we're going to open it up for some questions.

[2019] Mark Triplett: That's right. Thank you, Ms. Pierce. And thank you to the team for sharing out all of these measures and steps. I think we can take down the slides now, Ms. Gutierrez. Awesome. Thank you. So we do have some time now to answer questions. And I know there's many questions that have been put in the chat. So we'll do our best to answer as many questions as we possibly can. And so what we'll do is Ms. Gutierrez is going to read the questions in the order that they come in. And then we will, as a team, we're going to answer as many as we can. And if we don't have an answer to something, that's something that we can commit to going back and finding the answer to.

[2063] SPEAKER_25: Thank you, Dr. Kirklett. We'll start off with the first question saying, will you resume mandatory temperature checks and screening given that COVID positive child's attended school, whether intentionally or unintentionally, for three days?

[2078] Mark Triplett: Okay, so, um, there's currently no, um, no guidance that requires temperature checks or, um, or, uh, checking of the daily health check at the door of the school. And what we are doing now is we are asking families to please, as I think was mentioned by, um, one of our presenters earlier is that families do, we do ask that they complete the daily health check, um, every day. and really make sure that they are reviewing the health of their child before bringing the child to school. If there is any reason, any symptoms that indicate that children should not be going to school on the daily health check, then to please keep their child at home. And so that needs to be self-monitored. And we are asking that families make sure that they're doing that. I receive mine via text every morning. I fill it out, all our staff is filling it out. And it really helps for all of us to just be cognizant and review our health symptoms before going to work or to school. So temperature checks not required. Daily health check is expected for families, but is not required to show at the door. It's something that we're asking families to do at home before they bring their child to school.

[2161] SPEAKER_24: There's one additional question related to that. Do you mind if I ask that real quick? The daily health screener asks the question if the child has been sick in the last 10 days, if the child has been sick in the last 10 days, but now has no symptoms and has a negative COVID test, the parent is told the student shouldn't come to campus that day. I think this is probably a very specific question, but in this case, should they follow the flow chart or should they follow the screener is the question it sounds like.

[2190] Mark Triplett: Ms.dela Cruz or Nurse Lopez, do you wanna answer that?

[2197] SPEAKER_27: So follow the flow chart based if the, I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand the question. So if there was exposure 10 days prior.

[2209] SPEAKER_24: If the child has been sick in the last 10 days, but has no symptoms and a negative COVID test.

[2217] SPEAKER_27: then they are okay to come back because 10 days has passed since first symptoms came out.

[2225] Julienne Sumodobila: Thank you.

[2229] Mark Triplett: Thank you, okay, we'll go on to- Just to be clear, if they have experienced symptoms within the last 10 days, then they should remain at home until it's been 10 days and they have no symptoms, is that correct?

[2248] SPEAKER_27: Yes, if 10 days has passed since the beginning of symptoms and the symptoms do not have to fully resolve, but there should be improvement of symptoms. Thank you.

[2269] SPEAKER_25: Okay, thank you. We'll go on to the next question. Is the district going to offer free rapid COVID testing at school sites? so that students do not have to miss as many days.

[2282] Mark Triplett: Ms. Del Cruz, do you want to speak to the type of testing again that we're planning on having at the school sites?

[2290] Marie dela Cruz: Yes. In the beginning, we will be providing testing for employees only, but in the near future, once we have that all fully implemented, we will be providing testing for students. for the employees who are providing PCR testing, but for students, rapid testing will be an option.

[2314] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. And then the next question here is what happens with truancy for students that have been out for COVID symptoms?

[2327] Mark Triplett: Let's see, Mr. Dulwich or Miss Pierce-Davis, do you want to talk a little bit about the process of short-term independent study and how that works if someone is in quarantine?

[2343] SPEAKER_24: Sure. Can you ask the question one more time? I was answering a very similar question at the end of the Q&A.

[2350] SPEAKER_25: Not a problem. The question is, what happens with truancy for students that have been out for COVID-related symptoms?

[2356] SPEAKER_24: Great, so in terms, there are two options for families and we encourage, well, there are two options for families. So if they have to quarantine and have to be out of school, we do offer independent study, but short-term independent study. That allows the child to stay enrolled in their school, but legally speaking, they can only be in that short-term study for a total of 14 days all school year. So that means if they're out for five days at one point of the year, and another five days, it's a total of 10. So a total of 14 for the full school year. That independent study actually, as long as a student completes their assigned work for the time period that they're out, it clears their attendance and they get full credit for having attended school. And on their attendance, it'll show that they've completed their independent study and it shows as if they were present for school. If for some reason they go past that 14 days or are for whatever reason unable, to complete that independent study work, for instance, maybe they are symptomatic or they're not feeling well, or some reason they can't do the independent study option, their absences will be excused to indicate that they have been asked to quarantine so that we will kind of indicate that on their attendance to show and it will not impact them as negatively as let's say an unexcused absence.

[2440] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question here is, What is the threshold of COVID cases at school?

[2448] Mark Triplett: I think that, so if I understand the question correctly, it's related to what is, when is the determination and how is the determination for if a class or a school needs to quarantine? So we went over that a little bit at the beginning of the slide deck. If there's a situation where there's a positive case in a class and we are unable to determine the close contact of all the students in the class, then that would be a situation where we may need to make a decision to quarantine the class. because we weren't able to identify who was a close contact and who was not. The other case is when there is multiple positive cases in a given classroom or a school. And so that's a determination that is made by the county. So they investigate that situation and they make a determination whether either a class or a school needs to be quarantined. And that is done in coordination, collaboration with us as a district. I don't believe that they have an official threshold number currently, but that may change. They may have a threshold number as they move forward.

[2534] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, considering the number of cases in Newark, are we going to go back to virtual school?

[2542] Mark Triplett: So that would really depend on the state and the county to make that kind of determination of returning to full virtual learning for the entire district. I think it's highly unlikely. In the case of Newark, there is, we actually do not have the number of cases in our schools that some of our neighboring districts have at this point. Our percentage is, is lower than our neighboring, many of our neighboring districts. So I don't anticipate that we're going back to virtual school, but if the state and the county were to make that kind of determination, then that would certainly be something that we would be communicating with the community as soon as we were aware.

[2591] SPEAKER_25: Okay, this is a more of a specific question and it's, I have received three COVID confirmed emails from New Orleans Junior High. but there was no indication that these children are in the same class as my child or even in the same grade. Can this be modified to at least notify us which classes the child has been in so the parents can have a heads up or notification or to be more aware of certain COVID signs?

[2620] Mark Triplett: Nurse Lopez, do you wanna speak to that? And I'm happy to chime in as well.

[2625] SPEAKER_27: Sure, so unfortunately, because of confidentiality, we are not able to disclose certain information and specific information regarding specific classes that the positive case has been in. And so we are not able to share if it's in the case of the junior high, if it's a seventh grader, an eighth grader.

[2654] Mark Triplett: We'll say that, thank you, Nurse Lopez, that when the letters do go out that there's a case in the school, I believe part of the letter says to be sure to be monitoring your child to see if they have any symptoms and to be notifying the school as soon as any symptoms were to surface. So that is something that we ask all families to do if they receive a letter regarding a case in their school. However, if there is a situation where a student, your child is a close contact to a positive case, then that is something that you get a direct communication about, because then there'll be a need for you to quarantine your child.

[2702] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, are NUSD staff given proper education or instruction as to how to wear their masks?

[2714] Mark Triplett: So there is, we can continue to reiterate proper mask wearing. And so I think that's a really good idea that we continue to talk about it, continue to practice it with both students and staff. We have discussed this previously, but I think it's worth always repeating. So thank you for that suggestion.

[2737] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. I'm hoping I'm reading this correctly. It says, why is there so much risk when there are no children under 12 that are vaccinated? Why can't we wait until all children get vaccinated? And I'm guessing this is to go back to in-person?

[2755] Mark Triplett: Yeah, so the state law mandated, and you saw it in the timeline that we presented in the slide deck, that every district, every school had to to return to in-person learning and provide an independent study option. So we are following those laws and making sure that we're in accordance with the laws. And I mean, I think it is something that we all just need to be real about is that COVID is still here and that unfortunately it is looking from the health experts and scientists that this is something that we're going to have to learn to live with and to implement safety measures to mitigate. But it is our reality. And nonetheless, we want to make sure that we are providing both in-person option as well as an independent virtual option to all our families.

[2820] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, what is considered a close contact? Children can be around each other even if they are not in the same class, such as lunch and recess or pickup lanes.

[2830] SPEAKER_19: Nurse Lopez, do you want to speak a little bit more about the specifics around close contact?

[2834] SPEAKER_27: Yes, so close contact, as defined by the guidelines, is being within zero to six feet of a positive case for 15 minutes or an accumulation of zero to six feet interactions with a positive case for 15, an accumulation of 15 minutes in a 24 hour period. And in terms of the outdoor setting, the county is, the guidelines say that as long as measures like mask wearing is in place, there is the emphasis on outdoor contact tracing, again, as long as mask wearing and other safety measures are in place.

[2893] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, has the county given any guidance on school field trips?

[2900] Mark Triplett: So I believe currently that field trips are now permitted as long as all of the safety guidelines are being followed. So that is what I understand is the current status. That could change. But as of right now, I believe they are allowed but there's the necessity to follow all the guidelines and restrictions.

[2925] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, are each of the number of cases on the dashboard all new cases or are any of them duplicates, meaning that someone had it for two separate weeks, so they are counted twice?

[2938] Mark Triplett: Thank you. It is what you see on the dashboard. There's no duplicates. Those are all cases, reported cases based on the day of them being reported. So it's possible that in between one week and another, there could be more, there could be, I don't want to confuse everybody, but essentially the cases on there are based on the date they were reported. No duplicates.

[2969] SPEAKER_25: Okay, thank you. The question is, how will a student continue his or her studies if he or she or the class is quarantined?

[2979] Mark Triplett: So I think Ms. Pierce talked about that earlier. Ms. Pierce, do you want to just reiterate what you spoke of earlier around how students continue their studies while they're in quarantine?

[2993] SPEAKER_24: Yeah, so again, we can offer short-term independent study as long as it doesn't go over 15 days. And as well as, yeah, so there's a short-term study option is generally the best one to make sure students can keep up with their studies.

[3011] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. This is also getting a little more specific, but can the district direct teachers to require students to wash their hands before they eat? Research shows that soap and water washing for at least 20 seconds kills significantly more germs than using hand sanitizers. And some, And he believes, and the natives believe that some schools are only using hand sanitizer.

[3036] Mark Triplett: So we do direct that our students are cleaning their hands before eating and after eating and before entering classrooms. I don't have, I'd have to go back and look at some of the information from the county public health department in terms of whether hand sanitizer is less efficacious than washing with soap, but we are happy to review that and do whatever it takes to have our students practicing proper hand hygiene.

[3072] SPEAKER_25: And Dr. Triplett, if I may add, the teachers are also asking students from the younger children, teaching them how to wash their hands, and then going on to the older students, asking them to wash their hands. before and after the classroom as well. Thank you. The next question is, if close contacts are not required to get tested, how can you be certain that there will be no transmission?

[3099] Mark Triplett: Do you want to speak to that, Nurse Lopez? I believe close contacts should get tested or quarantined for the required time in order to then for everyone to be sure that they're no longer transmitting. Is that correct?

[3119] SPEAKER_27: Yes, that is correct. So close contacts are required to quarantine for 10 days. And that's just to make sure that if they are infected, or if they do get infected, that there is no in-school transmission.

[3140] Mark Triplett: So they can be tested during that time, and that's an added safety measure, but if nothing else, the fact that they are quarantining for those 10 days means that they would not be transmitting the virus when they returned if they had been COVID positive. Is that right?

[3160] SPEAKER_27: Correct. And if the quarantined individual is fully vaccinated, and is not showing symptoms of COVID, they are able to come back to school, but they have to be fully vaccinated.

[3180] SPEAKER_32: Thank you.

[3182] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The question is, have school sites been given more picnic tables or umbrellas to facilitate social distancing during lunchtime?

[3192] Mark Triplett: Ms. Delacruz, do you want to speak to this?

[3197] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, so we are in the process of providing more tables to our schools, as well as umbrellas. And then for a permanent solution, we are also looking at providing shade structures for all the schools.

[3214] SPEAKER_25: Thank you.

[3215] Mark Triplett: And so the permanent shade, which I think is going to be a really good long term solution for both weather and and allowing students to be outdoors to enjoy enjoy lunch, as well as to be shaded from the sun that that does require. Different state. facilities approval so that we should anticipate that that that's going to take. Some time probably not until the spring, I would anticipate at the earliest, but in the meantime. As Ms. Delacruz said, we are providing interim options of more shade structures, more temporary shade structures and more tables.

[3262] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. Next question is, will vaccinations be made available for students who would like to get vaccinated when they are turned 12 or older?

[3272] Mark Triplett: Thank you. Ms. Gutierrez, do you want to answer that question?

[3276] SPEAKER_25: Yes, I can answer that. We have partnered with Washington Hospital to provide a vaccination clinic on September 8th at the high school held inside the STAR Lab. On September 8th, the high school will be hosting their back to school night. And like I mentioned, we have partnered with Washington Hospital to also provide a vaccination clinic during the same time as the back to school, which is 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thank you. The next question here is, could it be possible to increase the brunch intervals by 15 minutes? Right now, 10 minutes is less, given this pandemic situation and difficult for students to have their snack and hand wash.

[3323] Mark Triplett: Yeah, thank you for that suggestion. We definitely can engage with the principals. and think through ways to make sure that those snack periods are sufficient time to both do the hand hygiene as well as provide an opportunity for students to be eating. So we'll take that back and discuss it with the principals.

[3348] SPEAKER_25: Great, thank you. The question is regarding the air filters and how often are they required to be changed?

[3359] SPEAKER_19: Ms. Delacruz, do you want to answer that one?

[3362] Marie dela Cruz: Yes, sure. Our air filters right now are scheduled to be changed every three months. So we change them this month in August before school started. So the next one will be September, October, November. So every three months.

[3381] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. And these are also just other questions regarding students being quarantined and if they will be in distance learning, which is a question if a student is in quarantine, will they be in distance learning until they resumed in person?

[3399] SPEAKER_24: So again, distance learning is no longer exists for the law, for state law. And so what we do offer given our new guidance of AB 130 is this short-term independent study. option. So that is for students who have to quarantine, they can choose the short-term independent study and they can work with their site principals on this.

[3423] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, will schools start having lunches outdoors?

[3433] Mark Triplett: Yes, so we do, schools are all offering multiple different options for lunch, including cafeteria or outdoors, or in some cases classrooms. So the goal is to have less crowding in the cafeteria itself and spread students out and create opportunities for more distancing. And so that is occurring at all of our schools.

[3459] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. Can you provide more information regarding the times when the classrooms are being cleaned?

[3467] Mark Triplett: Ms. Delacruz, do you wanna speak to that?

[3474] Marie dela Cruz: Yeah, classrooms are being cleaned daily and normally starts after school. We have a night custodian and a day custodian. The day custodian normally takes care of all the cleaning lunches and breaks and any needs during the day. But the evening custodian is the one that does the cleaning for all the classrooms.

[3501] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. And the next question is, will classrooms get additional Chromebooks? In some instances, there are students sharing a Chromebook. So will the classrooms be getting more Chromebooks?

[3520] Mark Triplett: Miss Pierce, do you want to speak to this question regarding schools getting additional Chromebooks and? And I think that the other part was students currently having to share Chromebooks. With multiple students.

[3543] SPEAKER_24: I'm not sure I would need to know more information about why students are sharing Chromebooks, but I do know that We are doing a full inventory after a year of distance learning. Most districts actually anticipated a loss of around 30% due to damage or loss of Chromebooks. We're in the process of figuring out exactly how much that was for NUSD. Students that are involved in our independent study programs have Chromebooks that are still issued to them. The rest of the Chromebooks, we are asking to stay on campus just so that we have them available for students. And again, we wanna make sure that we fully complete our district-wide inventory so that we can be prepared in case we need them again.

[3585] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The question is, next question is, if there is a long-term plan to accommodate safe outdoor eating, especially during rainy weather and fire season due to the poor air quality?

[3603] Mark Triplett: Yeah, thank you. So as Miss Dela Cruz mentioned, we are looking into long term having permanent shade structures that will allow students, even in in rainy weather to actually be able to eat outdoors if they if they'd like to. But the issue with smoke is definitely something that's going to become more of an issue as we continue into the fall and we will be working with the County Public Health and the County Office of Education with regard to sort of the AQI, the Air Quality Index, And when it's appropriate to be outdoors, and even when there's times where the smoke is such that it's not appropriate to be outdoors, then what are the mitigations for students to be indoors but continuing to have proper air? There may be situations, as has happened in the past, where air quality is not good due to smoke, in which case there may be situations where we do have to cancel school. But all of that will be done in coordination with Alameda County Public Health, and we will have more information to share about that in the future.

[3694] SPEAKER_25: Okay, I have a couple of questions here asking to provide a little more clarity as to what defines exposure and close contact.

[3707] Mark Triplett: Okay, do you want to speak to that a little bit more, Nurse Lopez? Exposure and close contact.

[3717] SPEAKER_27: When you look at, if you are looking at the flow chart, when you say exposed, that is also close contact. So when we say exposed, that means you're a close contact and you're vaccinated or you're not vaccinated. So close contact as defined by county guidelines is being zero to six feet of the positive case for 15 minutes or more, or in a 24 hour period, an accumulation of close contact are being 0 to 6 feet of the positive case. For 15 minutes, so let's say in a 24 hour period you were 0 to 6 feet of the positive case for five minutes in the morning. Another five minutes at lunchtime and another maybe 5-6 minutes at the end of the day and you are 0 to 6 feet of that positive case mask or unmask. Then that. puts you or that defines you as being a close contact.

[3781] SPEAKER_24: Nurse Lopez, we have a family saying if they get an exposure letter, but they've got multiple kids at the same school or just in different grades, how do they know which student was exposed?

[3793] SPEAKER_27: So the community, that's all the families, do get the letter that states that there is or was a positive case in the school. But if you are identified as a close contact, you will get additional notification or an additional letter stating that you are identified as a close contact. So you may have three kids in the school, but not everyone will get a close contact letter. no one may get a close contact letter because they were not identified as close contacts.

[3832] SPEAKER_25: Okay, thank you. The next question is, if we are not comfortable sending our child to school, can we still move to the online option for the remainder of the year being the independent study?

[3844] Mark Triplett: Do you want to answer that Miss Pierce-Davis?

[3848] SPEAKER_25: I'll repeat the question.

[3850] SPEAKER_19: I can answer it.

[3850] Mark Triplett: I can answer it. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Yes. So it is still an option for families who wish to switch to the independent study. And you can find that application online on our website.

[3865] Maria Huffer: Thank you.

[3866] Mark Triplett: And I know, I just want to be conscious of time. And it looks like we're about five minutes over from the time that we said that for this meeting. I'm happy to stick around for another five minutes and then we'll collect up all the remaining questions and we're hoping to put together a FAQ to send out with some of the themes other themes that are coming up in terms of questions.

[3891] Maria Huffer: Thank you.

[3896] SPEAKER_25: Again just confirming that if one child is asked to quarantine is a parent supposed to assume that their sibling is also supposed to quarantine?

[3910] SPEAKER_27: I'll take that question. So if you have a child that was asked to quarantine, the sibling does not necessarily have to quarantine because the sibling may not have been exposed to the positive case. If there is a positive case in the household, then all those siblings have to quarantine. But if only one sibling was sent home to be quarantined, the other sibling, if he did not get a notification, then he does not have to quarantine.

[3941] SPEAKER_25: All right, thank you. The next question is, how can we ensure that parents are held accountable for not sending their children to school sick? For example, currently dealing with a sick child that is not related to COVID, but trying to be a responsible parent and keep their child at home.

[3961] Mark Triplett: Yeah, thank you for that. So this is something that we need to all be doing. And I know in the past, before COVID, it was a little bit, dare I say, looser with regard to this for both adults and students. Have a little bit of a stuffy nose, but you still go to work. or your child has a little bit of a stuffy nose, and so she seemed okay, she can still go to school. But we are asking that now, given the situation, that all of us do need, if we have symptoms, that we should be staying home. We should be reporting it and communicating with the school administrator, and then staying home. And I know that That does create a lot of challenges for all of us because it's gonna result in more students and more staff having to stay home when they're not feeling well, but that is what we need to do because that is the way that we are going to keep everybody safe and healthy. So it is incumbent on all of us to be doing that. And our hope and intention is that the daily health check is a way of reminding all of us of doing that in the morning and doing our own self scan and self monitoring. So please do be sure to be filling that out, both staff and students. And it's easily accessible. You can get it on your email or you can get it via text. I get mine on my text every morning. And so I just check them all off and do my own scan before I leave for work.

[4066] SPEAKER_25: Thank you. The next question is, can you provide a little more clarity or explanation as to how do mask breaks work? How is a student safely assured if they can remove their mask during the mask break?

[4079] Mark Triplett: Great, yeah, thank you. So at our schools, schools have created mask break areas. And so they're clearly delineated with tape. And then there's a protocol that students need to follow of having an adult give them permission to go into the mask break zone or area. And they shouldn't be doing that with other students. And they should always be supervised by the adult. I've seen them at the different schools, taped off areas outside where students could ask to go and have a mask break in that area.

[4118] SPEAKER_25: All right. Thank you. There are some questions being answered, so I just don't want to overstep on those. But actually, I'm looking at time. Dr. Triplett, we have a minute. Continue?

[4134] Mark Triplett: Let's do one more. And then, of course, we'll collect up all of the remaining questions and do our best to be trying to get out some further information.

[4145] SPEAKER_25: All right. Just looking at the top question. My daughter is being asked to quarantine. How can I feel more confident about bringing her back? How can I be assured that the district is doing everything to keep her safe?

[4166] Mark Triplett: Okay, yeah, so what we presented tonight was all of the protocols and safety measures that we are taking to ensure safety of everyone. And everyone has been doing a really good job of following those safety measures. I've been really, really pleased to see both students and adults following the masking and other mitigation measures. So there will be COVID cases. We just have to be real about that. It's occurring across our entire country. What the doctors and health officials and the scientists are telling us is how to layer on mitigation strategies to minimize cases and really try to put a stop to COVID. And those include vaccinating those who are eligible to be vaccinated, masking, and then following all of the hand hygiene and other measures, including reporting when someone does have symptoms and testing for those who are concerned or who are unvaccinated. So all of those things are the mitigation strategies that are gonna get us through. And we need to just continue doing those and take steps accordingly when there's a need to pivot or change. And so we'll continue to follow the health guidelines from the state, from the county, and they will continue to evolve. I'm quite sure of that. We've learned a lot throughout these whole last two years, and the pandemic continues to change and evolve itself. And so we'll continue to be flexible and evolve with it so that we can really try to minimize the number of positive cases we have. At this point, I'm really pleased at the results of everything that our staff and families and students have done to mitigate the number of cases that we have. So our case rate is remarkably low in comparison to other districts, and it's really fortunate that we have not had any situations where there's a widespread outbreak at any of our schools. So that may happen in the future. If it does, then we will obviously react and take steps and actions in coordination with our partners at the county and state. But at this point, people are doing a really good job of really trying to follow the guidelines. And so we really appreciate that. I know we're over time. I do wanna thank our team here that's doing amazing work to really try to do whatever we can to mitigate this situation, as well as our students and staff and families. And I do wanna encourage everyone, if you do have questions, there's a lot of resources on our website, particularly under the COVID section. It's where you'll find the complete safety plan as well as the data dashboard, as well as county and state guidelines, and all of our protocols. So thank you so much. We will continue to provide opportunities to engage with you and update you as things move along. And it has been really, really wonderful. to have your children back in schools and be have an opportunity to see them and, and to talk with you during arrival time and dismissal, and, and we will continue to will continue to do everything we can to protect our students, staff and families.

No minutes available.