Board of Education to consider dates for return to campus

DOWNEY — The Downey Unified School District’s board of education will meet Thursday to receive updates on Los Angeles County’s protocols for the reopening of elementary level schools, and again next week to discuss potential opening dates.

While LA County does remain in the “purple / wide-spread” tier, the new adjusted case rate has fallen to 20 new cases per 100,00 people, with a seven day average of 7.2% daily positive test rate.

Because the county has stayed under 25 new cases per 100,000 people for five consecutive days, it has reached the requirement to allow schools to reopen for onsite learning for grades TK through six.

During a press briefing Tuesday, county health director Dr. Barbara Ferrer laid out the stipulations schools would have to meet in order to bring students back onto campus.

These include required masking and distancing, incorporation of Covid-19 testing (both symptomatic and surveillance) into regular school operations, ensured sufficient ventilation in shared spaces and classrooms, immediate reporting of any cluster of cases (three or more within 14 days) to the Department of Public Health, and a Covid-19 safety plan including CAL/OSHA Covid-19 prevention program.

Classrooms will also need to be made up of stable groups with fixed membership, which will not mix with other groups.

Schools will have to submit required forms to the California Department of Public Health as well as the county. If no concerns are noted within seven days, they will be allowed to reopen.

Public Health will provide technical assistance and outbreak management to schools, as well as conducting site visits.

Schools will also still need to offer 100% distance learning opportunities.

Grades seven through 12 will remain closed until the county’s case rate drops below seven new cases per 100,000 people.

According to Ferrer, schools have not shown to be high-risk settings for transmission of the virus. While school outbreaks did spike during the recent surge, they have been on a steady decline since January.

“One of the most important indicators for us is how many outbreaks are happening in schools,” said Ferrer. “These outbreaks were relatively rare, because the protocols in place actually do prevent significant transmission at many of the school sites.”

The county defines an outbreak as three more cases over a 14-day period in a school setting “where we can assume that there’s been some transmission at the school setting.”

Ferrer said that there have been 86 K-12 school affiliated outbreaks since Sept. 1, 2020, including outbreaks of sports teams and staff working within school buildings but not necessarily providing services to students. Of those outbreaks, 66 involved less than six cases.

Still, Ferrer ended her presentation by emphasizing that the successful reopening of schools is still dependent on a group effort.

“As for all of us in the broader community, in order for school staff, teachers and students to feel supported in their return to the classroom, we each need to continue to do our part to keep Covid-19 transmission low,” said Ferrer. “As we wait for more vaccinations, please follow the rules and use all the tools we have to keep ourselves and others as safe as possible from becoming infected.”