Fresno schools quarantine 10 classrooms due to COVID exposure just days into new year

Students in 10 Fresno Unified elementary school classrooms have been quarantined just days into the new school year due to close contact with others who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Plans to implement a so-called “modified quarantine” — which would allow exposed students to stay in school if they agree to COVID-19 testing twice a week — were delayed due to training issues, district spokesperson Amy Idsvoog told The Bee’s Education Lab.

“Our intent was to have the modified quarantine up and running by the time school started,” Idsvoog said.

The students in question will learn from home — again — but can return to school with proof of a negative COVID test five days after exposure, Idsvoog noted.

Once the district completes staff training, the modified quarantine policy will be fully implemented, which Idsvoog said should be Monday.

But the early disruption after really just a few hours of in-person class time following 18 months of distance learning frustrated at least one parent.

Cheri Perry said her third grade daughter was one of the students who learned early Monday morning they couldn’t immediately return to Malloch Elementary School.

“She is extremely upset,” Perry said Tuesday. “She has been isolated for so long. This started for her in first grade, where she’s still forming friendships and trying to understand how socialization works. This is devastating for her to not be at school with her friends.”

Perry also said she was upset that the district didn’t have its modified quarantine policy in place on the first day of school.

“Why have (schools) not communicated that although this is out there as a policy you’re hoping to get, it’s not in place yet and to expect that your child will be sent home for 10 days,” Perry said.

The modified quarantine was one of the options made available to California schools as part of the state’s latest coronavirus guidance — which was handed down in late July. That’s when most educators are on vacation and just days before Fresno-area schools were scheduled to begin.

The short notice issue was compounded by other logistical challenges of implementing a complicated policy affecting thousands of students that requires training dozens of school nurses and staff.

Long-term plans are in the works for students who need to learn from home for a time, Idsvoog said. In the short term, many students who are sent home receive homework packets.

“It’s the same as if a student had strep (throat) and had to stay home from school,” Idsvoog said.

News of the quarantined classrooms, while troubling, is unlikely to surprise public health officials who’ve long said evidence shows precautions like masking and frequent hand-washing significantly reduce coronavirus exposure but don’t eliminate all danger.

Dr. John Zweifler, Fresno County Health Department Health physician, has said schools would do everything possible to reduce risk but also acknowledged at least some school-related infections were “inevitable.”

And Fresno Unified isn’t alone.

Also, on Tuesday, the Visalia Unified School District announced a new policy requiring mask-wearing indoors and outdoors at district schools. In a statement posted on the district’s website, officials said the move was in response to a growing number of school-related infections.

“Additionally, VUSD is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of staff being placed in quarantine, and there has been a need to quarantine a number of classrooms throughout the District,” Interim Superintendent Doug Cardoza said in the statement. “This is heavily affecting our ability to keep students in school and provide services.”

A coronavirus outbreak in Texas forced several schools to shut down this week, less than a week into the new school year.

Clovis Unified had not quarantined any classrooms as of Wednesday, CUSD spokesperson Kelly Avants confirmed.

As of Wednesday, students and staff had reported a total of 43 non-campus-related infections already in August as some 50,000 students and staffers returned to classrooms, according to the CUSD online dashboard. A total of seven infections were reported to Clovis schools in July when most campuses are closed for the summer.

Idsvoog reiterated the need for students and families to follow public health guidance closely, especially when children under 12 remain ineligible for vaccination.

“It’s important for families to self-screen before bringing students to school,” Idsvoog said.

Parents can use the district’s self-screening tool online, which you can find at this link.

This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 6:45 PM.