Name: ‘This should have never happened’ — East Bay classroom infected with COVID-19
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‘This should have never happened’ — East Bay classroom infected with COVID-19

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By | Bay Area News GroupDANVILLE — The day after Contra Costa County returned to the most restrictive purple tier for reopening during the pandemic, some students in Danville returned to class. A week later, all the staff in one classroom and most of its students had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.Despite the outbreak, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District did not shut down in-person instruction, though it did have the school disinfected.The district confirmed Wednesday that five staff members and three students at Del Amigo High School had tested positive for COVID-19 after it reopened certain classrooms on Nov. 17. One staff member told this news organization the virus from one classroom has since at least spread to her family and infected the spouse of another employee.The district is in the midst of a limited reopening plan that allows some groups to return to in-person learning, including those in a program for students with severe developmental disabilities at Del Amigo High School, an alternative school located behind San Ramon Valley High School in Danville.District Superintendent John Malloy said Wednesday that 69 staff and students currently are at Del Amigo. In all, the 32,000-student district has 600 students at its 36 campuses during this phase of reopening.Other groups allowed back include some special education students and English language learners.“Our district will look at each situation honestly and when appropriate take steps to fortify our health practices, as our commitment to staff and student health remains our greatest priority,” Malloy said in a statement to this newspaper.Those updated practices include requiring N95 fitted face masks and face shields for staff members who may be around the small number of students who, for medical reasons, may not be able to wear a mask or keep one on.The district does not have any plans to shut down Del Amigo, or pause its reopening. Starting Jan. 5, if county health officials approve, all parents in the district can choose whether they want their child to return to in-person learning, or continue full remote learning for the rest of the school year. An additional 10,000 students are expected to return to campus.Even though Contra Costa County went back to the purple tier on Nov. 16, the district announced that because it already had set plans and was preparing to open, it was allowed to continue with the approval of county health officials.The superintendent said those who tested positive or were in direct contact with those who tested positive at Del Amigo have been notified and are quarantining. The entire Del Amigo campus was cleaned and ready to receive students again on Tuesday, when they returned after the Thanksgiving break.One of the five staff members infected is Jan Jimenez, an autism paraprofessional. She said in an interview that when she and the other four paraprofessionals returned to the classroom on Nov. 17, two of the classroom’s four students appeared sick. The staff members took the students’ temperatures, and both had fevers over 100 degrees. Although the classroom has a teacher, some teachers can teach remotely, as was the case for this class.But the superintendent, in an interview Wednesday, said the district was aware of only one student who may have had a higher fever. Staff did not follow protocol and instead of sending the child to the office to be evaluated by a nurse, the student was sent home, he said. After a student is seen by a nurse, it’s the principal who decides whether to send the child home, Malloy added.“We have process, we have protocols. We have administrators who are responsible and nurses … all that didn’t happen,” Malloy acknowledged.Jimenez said the temperatures were reported to the administration, but Malloy denied that. He said the school nurse later that day followed up with the student’s parent, who reported that the student student did not have a high temperature. Therefore, the student was allowed to return to campus, Malloy said.Parents and guardians are required to assess their children, including giving them temperature checks, before sending them to school.“There needs to be an honor system,” the superintendent said. “As challenging as that is for some to hear, we were clear about what those requirements are.”He said with the small exception of students who can’t wear masks for medical reasons, all students must remain masked when in school, and the district “is not going to tolerate anything different.”Malloy said he’s not trying to deny that students and staff got sick. “We could not avoid the fact that COVID was in the classroom,” he said, but insisted that protocols are in place to make sure everyone is safe.According to the school district’s if someone in a classroom has COVID-19 symptoms such as a fever, cough or difficulty breathing, the Contra Costa Health Services recommendation is to send them home with advice to contact their doctor about whether to be tested. The schools and/or classroom are allowed to remain open.The students in the class at Del Amigo range in age from 18 to 22 and have severe physical and developmental disabilities; they are part of the special education program. Some place their hands in their mouth, so it can be difficult for them to keep their masks on, Jimenez said.Just days after she was required to return to the classroom, Jimenez herself started to feel coronavirus symptoms. She was tested for the virus on Nov. 23 and her fear was realized: She had COVID-19.“We really feel this should have never happened,” she said. “We should not go into a work situation that was unsafe.”Now she’s extremely fatigued, has a cough and shortness of breath. To make matters worse, she spread the virus to her husband. They also fear they may have exposed her husband’s 94-year-old mother. Jimenez is now under quarantine at home, but said she may have to return to work on Dec. 7.“I was angry, frustrated and really disappointed that our safety needs hadn’t been followed through,” Jimenez said.Ann Katzburg, president of the San Ramon Valley Education Association, said although none of the union’s members were infected, the incident is still of utmost concern.“We’re working really hard to make sure that we tighten the level of protection so we can ensure that everyone is safe.”We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. 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By | Bay Area News GroupDANVILLE — The day after Contra Costa County returned to the most restrictive purple tier for reopening during the pandemic, some students in Danville returned to class. A week later, all the staff in one classroom and most of its students had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.Despite the outbreak, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District did not shut down in-person instruction, though it did have the school disinfected.The district confirmed Wednesday that five staff members and three students at Del Amigo High School had tested positive for COVID-19 after...

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Angela Ruggiero

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‘This should have never happened’ — East Bay classroom infected with COVID-19

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