Six COVID-19 cases confirmed at this Fresno-area school district, with five in one week

At least six coronavirus cases have been linked to Sanger Unified School District campuses in November, including five over the last week.

One case at Sanger High School was confirmed Nov. 2, the day teachers returned to campuses and one day before students arrived, according to letters from the school district obtained by The Bee.

The letters don’t say — and district officials said medical privacy laws prevent them from confirming — whether the infections involved students or teachers.

The district notices indicate that, in addition to the Nov. 2 case, two more positive cases were reported at Washington Academic School, on Nov. 13 and 17, respectively. Another two cases were reported at Sequoia Elementary School on Nov. 17 and 18. Another case was reported Thursday at John Wash Elementary.

“Sanger Unified is following the guidelines from (Fresno County Department of Public Health) regarding staff and community notification if a positive case was on a school campus.,” district Spokesperson Cary Catalano said in an email to The Bee. “Contact tracing procedures at these sites showed that there were no close contacts, therefore no students or staff were required to quarantine.”

Sanger Unified opened its doors to students for part-time in-person learning on Nov. 2 amid backlash, division, and disagreements between teachers, parents, and district officials. Groups of parents and teachers were pitted against one another — one group pleading for the district to reopen for in-person classes and the other wanting distance learning to continue because they don’t feel it’s safe to return.

On Nov. 2, only staff members returned to campuses. The first wave of elementary students returned on Nov. 3.

The district, which has nearly 700 educators and 12,600 students, phased in students slowly. Transitional kindergartners, kindergartners, and first graders were the first students to return. Second and third graders returned the week of Nov. 9. Fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders returned this week, and all other grades are set to return on Jan. 11.

The Bee has obtained six different letters sent out by Sanger Unified officials notifying the public of a positive COVID-19 case.

“Safety protocols that include daily student and staff self-screening and temperature checks when coming to campus and frequent cleaning and disinfecting procedures are keeping students and staff safe on our campuses,” Catalano said. “The safety and well-being of staff and students is of utmost importance to Sanger Unified.”

Students are split into two groups. Each group of students is on campus four days a week, either in the morning or afternoon between two and a half hours and two hours and 45 minutes depending on the grade. The rest of the day, students work independently from home, and Mondays are all online.

None of the letters say whether it was a student or a staff member who tested positive at each campus.

Those who were considered a “close contact,” meaning someone was within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period, were notified by district officials, all the letters said.

“Health information about students and staff is confidential information,” the six notices said,” therefore staff at the site will not have any additional details that can be shared beyond this letter.”

All six notices also state, “As required by the Fresno County Department of Public Health, we are notifying you than an individual who was present on our campus within the last 24-hours who was reported testing positive for COVID-19.”

Sanger Unified is joining one of the many school districts across the country that have recently reopened and then, after a short time, saw a positive coronavirus case at a school. With the recent uptick in positive infections, many districts are opting to wait to reopen, the Washington Post reported.

The Fresno Unified School District, the county’s largest district, is one of the districts waiting to reopen until positive COVID-19 cases decrease. District officials announced Thursday morning they would continue distance learning until the county reaches the orange Tier 3 in the state’s color-coded “Blueprint for a Safer Economy” of coronavirus safety measures and restrictions.

The orange tier represents “moderate” risk levels for spreading COVID-19. To get to the orange tier, positive coronavirus cases would need to dip between 1 and 3.9 daily cases per 100,000.

On Monday, Fresno County slid back to the purple Tier 1 — the most restrictive tier for reopening businesses — after being in the red Tier 2 for almost two months. Still, under state and county guidelines, school districts that opened for in-person classes were allowed to remain open.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.