Dear Superintendents and School Leaders,
I am writing with several updates since my last message.
Household Close Contacts
While the new guidance allows unvaccinated and under-vaccinated employee close contacts to remain at work in most cases, the exception is when the employee lives with a person who is COVID-positive. When this is the case, and the household member cannot be isolated effectively from others in the household, the employee cannot return to work until the COVID-positive household member’s isolation period has ended. That can be as early as Day 6 if the COVID-positive family member’s symptoms are resolving, they’ve been fever free for at least 24 hours, and they test negative on Day 5, as long as the employee has remained free of symptoms. The employee is then required to test on Day 3, 4, or 5.
Updated Template Letters Now Available
Given all the changes in quarantine and isolation guidance, the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Communications team has updated a number of template letters in English and Spanish:
Parent Letters
Employee Letters
At-Home Test Kit Instructions
We have received reports that instructions inside the iHealth COVID-19 at-home test kits distributed to school districts and charter schools were in English only. The following materials may be helpful as you distribute the kits to families:
State to Provide N95 Masks for K-12 Students
Gov. Newsom announced last week that the state will provide a supply of N95 masks for all K-12 students and staff members in the state, including those attending or working at private schools.
Like previous allocations of personal protective equipment from the state, the masks will be provided to county offices of education for distribution to schools.
SDCOE has not received details yet about how many masks we will receive or when. We will share additional information as soon as we know more.
Staffing Shortages and J-13A Requests
Assembly Bill 167 made changes to the conditions for which local educational agencies (LEAs) may file a Form J-13A request for allowance of attendance due to an emergency, including for COVID-19-related staffing shortages. The California Department of Education (CDE) has released
answers to frequently asked questions on this topic, including:
Are there exceptions that would allow an LEA to file a Form J-13A request for a COVID-19-related closure due to LEA staffing shortages?
School closures due to COVID-19 related staffing shortages occurring during the time period of Sept. 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 are qualifying events with additional conditions, for which Form J-13A requests may be submitted. The additional conditions for a Form J-13A request for COVID-19 related staffing shortages are as follows:
- The LEA is unable to provide in-person instruction to students due to staffing shortages as a result of staff quarantine due to exposure to, or infection with, COVID-19 pursuant to local or state public health guidance.
- For certificated staff shortages, the LEA has exhausted all options for obtaining staff coverage, including using all certificated staff and substitute teacher options, and has consulted with their county office of education and the CDE in determining that staffing needs cannot be met through any option.
- For classified staff shortages, the LEA has exhausted all options for obtaining staff coverage, including using all staff options, and has consulted with their county office of education and the CDE in determining that staffing needs cannot be met through any option.
The consultation with the LEA’s county office of education and the CDE should factor in to the LEA’s decision to close school and be done prior to the LEA’s final decision to close. The Form J-13A request and all required documentation should be submitted after the closure is over so that the LEA can determine the exact number of school closure days for the request.
Process for consultation with SDCOE
Charter schools: Please complete
this form and e-mail it to
charters@sdcoe.net. The Charter School Services team will be in contact with you to discuss the circumstances relating to the need for school closure.
Process for consultation with CDE
This information is also available on
this page of SDCOE's COVID-19 website.
Let Them Breathe Letter
California Department of Public Health Chief Counsel Drew Brereton issued
this letter to local health officers and county superintendents of schools regarding a Dec. 3, 2021 letter about a recent ruling by the San Diego Superior Court in
Let Them Breathe v. Newsom. That lawsuit challenges the lawfulness of the universal masking requirement in public health guidance for K-12 schools issued by the California Department of Public Health. In his letter, Brereton states that the assertions in the message from the Let Them Breathe group are inaccurate.
Executive Order on Meeting Flexibility
There has been some confusion about what the order means for LEAs. The Education Code sections in the order apply to community colleges, not K-12 school districts, charters, or county offices of education. The relevant virtual meeting option in AB 361 sunsets for school districts and county offices of education on Jan. 1, 2024, so the governor's announcement doesn't change the status quo for San Diego County LEAs.
Thank you for all that you do. As always, please reach out if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Paul
Dr. Paul Gothold
San Diego County Superintendent of Schools
phone: 858-295-6641
