Fresno elementary school closes after coronavirus infections involving campus staff

Addicott Elementary School has shut down for 10 days due to multiple confirmed COVID-19 cases among staff, Fresno Unified officials said. The entire school will remain closed for deep cleaning.

Addicott is the first school the district has shut down since in-person classes began.

“Yesterday, we learned of a fourth positive case impacting Addicott. Out of an abundance of caution for our students and staff and in consultation with the Fresno (County) Health Department, we closed Addicott for the next 10 days to deep clean. Students will receive instruction virtually,” said Nikki Henry, Fresno Unified’s chief communications officer.

The small school has about 50 students enrolled and serves young people who have severe disabilities.

Since the fall semester began, FUSD has had 1,637 positive COVID-19 cases among staff and students.

As of Friday, Fresno County had 130,508 confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the health department.

FUSD confirms some ‘breakthrough’ cases as teacher vaccination deadline approaches

Speaking with The Bee on Friday, FUSD spokesperson Amy Idsvoog said some of the district’s cases this year had been so-called “breakthrough cases,” where a fully vaccinated person contracts the virus.

“Fully vaccinated people are being impacted (by) people who aren’t vaccinated,” Idsvoog said.

Health officials have long acknowledged the reality of breakthrough cases while reiterating that vaccinated people have a greater chance of avoiding infection and, when infected, tend to suffer less and bounce back faster.

News of Fresno’s school closure made headlines precisely a week before California’s Oct. 15 deadline for teachers to vaccinate or submit to regular testing.

Superintendent Bob Nelson plans to hold a town hall for teachers and staff to explain how the district will implement the state’s teacher and staff COVID-19 mandates.

Modified quarantine

Since classes began in August, Fresno Unified has struggled with implementing modified quarantine rules to keep more classrooms in session. Modified quarantine is supposed to be an alternative to forcing entire classes or schools to shut down the way Addicott did.

However, due to a shortage of trained staff, not all schools had the capability of offering modified quarantine.

The modified quarantine process requires rapid testing onsite. Those tests have been in short supply for California schools.

According to Idsvoog, all Fresno Unified school sites have rapid tests available.

Idsvoog said the district has been beefing up its volunteer staff to do the rapid testing, and it is hoping to implement the modified quarantine in the “next couple of days.”

”We’re bringing in Fresno State and Fresno City student nurses as part of testing teams in the event that school sites need support in modified quarantine,” Idsvoog said.

In the event of a classroom exposure, the modified process allows other mask-wearing students to remain in classrooms if they test negative on the fifth day after exposure.

However, if a second person in the class tests positive within that time, and it cannot be traced to a source outside the classroom, then the case would be considered classroom-spread, and the rest of the class would be sent home to quarantine.

Positive COVID-19 cases impact whether or not a class, or in this case, an entire school, has to quarantine. Idsvoog said when classrooms or schools quarantine, it’s not because of a high number of positive cases in the classroom but rather because students are in close contact.

Idsvoog did not have the data for how many classrooms have been quarantined due to positive COVID-19 cases.

COVID closes another school in Fresno County

While Addicott’s COVID-related closure marked the first for Fresno Unified since resuming in-person learning last spring, it’s not the first campus to close in the county, though numbers could not be confirmed Friday.

Monroe Elementary School, about seven miles west of Selma, returned all 145 of its students to full-time distance learning after nearly a dozen cases were confirmed, including at least eight among students, the Fresno County Health Department told The Bee in a statement.

“Monroe made the decision to switch to independent study for all grades while noting concerns about the potential for further spread from other staff,” the statement continued. “The FCDPH is supporting the school’s decision and continues to work with them on management of this outbreak.”

It also was unclear Friday exactly when the district closed its classrooms. School officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment this week.

California’s student vaccine mandate draws criticism

The closure in Fresno comes precisely a week after California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a vaccination requirement for eligible students to attend public school.

While much of California supports vaccinations, the move has been criticized by others who say Newsom is overstepping his authority. Others remain hesitant about the coronavirus vaccine, despite overwhelming endorsements from the scientific and medical communities.

Fresno County health officials said they are “anxiously awaiting” news about the vaccine for the 5 to 11-year-old population during the county’s COVID-19 press briefing update on Oct.1.

On Thursday, Pfizer asked the U.S. government to authorize its COVID-19 vaccine for youngsters ages 5 to 11, according to the Associated Press. If given the green light, shots could begin within a matter of weeks.

“The vaccine planning team is already putting assets together” to prepare for vaccinations in this age group, said Joe Prado, community health division manager for Fresno County.

“We’ve received some requests from school districts as well,” said Prado. “So we’re just trying to put that planning together to be ready to mobilize when that is actually approved.”

The rules would go into effect once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorizes full approval of the shots for the younger age groups, which Newsom said could be as early as January or around the middle of next year.

Earlier this week, many parents urged the Clovis Unified school board to fight the student vaccine mandate.

This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:21 PM.