Dear AUHSD Parents & Guardians,

We were thrilled to welcome our students on campus last week and witness such immediately high levels of engagement. As our students rekindle connections to their peers, teachers, classrooms and schools, health and safety of all remains at the forefront of our school operations. I am writing with some important health and safety updates and reminders regarding COVID-19 risk mitigation and precautions for our seasonal poor air quality.

COVID-19 Health and Safety Reminders
Positive Cases and Quarantine
As anticipated, we have had positive cases of COVID-19 within the District schools. Last week we had two student and one staff confirmed positive cases and this week we have had 12 student and one staff confirmed cases. Each positive case results in a thorough contract tracing process. Contract tracing is performed per California Department of Public Health K-12 Guidance and Contra Costa Health Services oversight and training.

  • Contacts - defined as individuals, masked or unmasked, who are within 6 feet of a COVID-19 positive individual(s) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes in a 24-hour period.
  • Vaccinated asymptomatic contacts – informed of the contact, encouraged to test for COVID-19 3 to 5 days after the contact, but do not need to quarantine.
  • Unvaccinated asymptomatic contacts – directed to enter a 10-day quarantine. If the exposure was in a school setting while masked, the student can be eligible for a modified quarantine, which allows the student to attend classes, but not extracurricular activities, if other conditions are met. A quarantined individual can be eligible to exit quarantine on day 8 from exposure if the individual has a negative COVID-19 test after day 5.
  • Symptomatic contacts – regardless of vaccination status, quarantine for 10 days and return to school if symptoms cease.

A decision tree in Appendix B of the AUHSD Health and Safety Plan provides additional information regarding our contact tracing program.

Each Monday, we will update the District COVID-19 Dashboard to reflect new COVID-19 positive cases, and full and modified quarantines directed from the previous week.

Symptom Check
It is critical that all members of our school community perform a symptom check for new and unexplained symptoms prior to coming to campus each day. Appendix A of our Health and Safety Plan provides a list of symptoms and some guidance regarding steps to be taken if symptoms arise.

Air Quality
The poor air quality due to the fires north and east of us is here and mitigating the risk of the poor air quality is only complicated by our COVID-19 prevention strategies. Our primary strategies for dealing with poor air quality are to stay indoors and use our upgraded HVAC system equipped with MERV 13 filters and other particulate removal technologies.

The California EPA offers this school guidance and the CDC and EPA offers this guidance for outdoor activity. Further, the North Coast Section of CIF has established through bylaw that “an air quality index of less than 151 must be registered for all high school outdoor athletic events.” We monitor air quality throughout the day and offer these parameters according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) for some school operations:
School Operation by AQI
Moderate (yellow 51-100)
  • Avoid heavy exertion in PE and/or after school sports.
  • Monitor students with asthma and other respiratory issues. Students with asthma and other respiratory issues should sit out or do less activity if appropriate.
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (orange 101-150)  
  • PE will be held indoors with no physical exertion.
  • Indoor lunch options will be offered.
  • Indoor and outdoor sports should have very minimal physical exertion.
  • Consider moving outdoor sports activities indoors.
  • Students with asthma and other respiratory issues should be monitored closely and should not participate in physical activities.
  • Review the situation and consider whether AQI is low or high in the orange range, if conditions are improving or worsening, heat, and time of day.
Unhealthy (red 151-200)
  • All physical activities (PE/indoor and outdoor athletics/school activities) should be canceled.
  • All athletic competitions should be canceled, per NCS bylaw.
  • Lunch should be indoors.
  • Students with asthma and other respiratory issues should be closely monitored and should not participate in physical activities.
  • No outdoor facility use.
Very Unhealthy (purple 201-300)
  • See “Unhealthy Red”
  • Consider closing schools (COVID-19 considerations might require closing schools)
Hazardous (maroon 301 and above)
  • See “Very Unhealthy Purple”
  • Seriously consider closing schools
 
Public Safety Power Shutdown
We are currently planning for potential Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) and will provide updates should the potential for a PSPS develop. As you can imagine, a PSPS situation will present additional challenges to keep students safe in our schools and to keep schools open.
 
Thank you for your understanding and support as we make decisions with student safety at the forefront.

Sincerely,

John Nickerson
Superintendent