LOS ALAMITOS, California– On the very first day of school for Los Alamitos High School recently, scores of students masked up, filed onto school for COVID-19 health screenings, and saw their teachers for the first time since March.
For weeks, teachers had clashed with administrators and had even gone over a strike, but the in-person education plan went ahead in a small public school district in Orange County, a location that historically leans conservative. Los Alamitos Unified School District also occurs to be the only public school district in the 34- city county to obtain a waiver allowing it to move forward with in-person education despite the county’s COVID case rate.
It’s part of a nationwide sense of confusion and worry, as school systems bring students back in a patchwork of in-person and online direction that differs commonly from state to state, county to county, and even district to district.
Los Alamitos High School, among the first public schools in California to reopen, had a comparable experience. One week after opening its doors, school officials announced their first COVID-positive case to personnel.
” Per interviews with this student regarding recent interactions with all of you, the threat of establishing coronavirus infection from this direct exposure is considered low for everyone,” the letter checked out.
Because letter, Los Alamitos primary Gregg Stone asked professors to keep an eye on symptoms, but stated they did “not need to quarantine or do anything differently.”
The coronavirus case has the Los Alamitos community grappling with how to move forward.
A Los Alamitos High trainee told VICE News the COVID case was “sort of concerning to me.” In general, they are comfy with what the district has actually done so far, however are waiting to see what actions are going to be required to prevent future infections. The district wasn’t the trainee’s primary worry. The genuine problem was their classmates really taking COVID safety measures seriously.
At the middle and high schools, trainees are responsible for cleaning their desks in between each class. Throughout the very first week the trainee kept in mind, their classmates seemed using masks regularly on campus and cleansing in classes, however there were some traffic circulation issues that make passing periods more congested– and social distancing really difficult.
And that’s just at school.
According to Los Alamitos Unified’s school resuming security strategy, students and staff are supplied PPE, undergo health screenings prior to class and in accordance with California Department of Public Health assistance personnel will be checked every two months. Given that the positive COVID case, the district likewise produced an online tracker for households.
Nevertheless, the tracker is not kept up to date. The tool says the last update was October 9, however moms and dads and personnel at Los Alamitos High were notified another student on campus has COVID that same day. As of this writing, the tracker does not show the second case.
According to employee, professors was alerted of 6 more believed cases on school. It is unclear if the 2nd verified infection was one of the six thought.
In anonymous interviews with VICE News, instructors and moms and dads pointed out comparable concerns with the district’s COVID policy: Social distancing, contact tracing and an ill child’s go back to school. The district’s standards only need instructors to be six feet away from students. There are no requirements that students be 6 feet apart from one another.
Then, if a trainee comes in “close contact,” specified as being within 6 feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes, the student’s family will be informed. This indicates if a trainee remains in class, but more than 6 feet far from someone with COVID, their family might not be informed.
Last but not least, students are sent home if they have a fever above 100.3 degrees fahrenheit, however they are allowed to return to campus 24 hours later on if it has decreased.
Now that the district is reporting cases, concern is heightened.
” Selecting LosAl@Home [the district’s distance learning program] was a tough decision for me as a parent since my kids were going to lose out on their social advancement,” Los Alamitos Unified moms and dad Elissa Fredrick stated. “However it was the best choice for them, being what the security standards and guidelines of this district are. I didn’t actually have a choice in my eyes.”
On the very first day of school at Los Alamitos High, district superintendent Dr. Andrew Pulver stated the district was taking the preventative measures required to make the go back to campus a success.
” We have actually met every need for our instructors,” he stated, “we do not want to put any of our trainees in a risky way.”
Some teachers, on the other hand, don’t believe enough has been done. One confidential teacher acknowledged that local legal minimums were being fulfilled, however insisted that “it’s insufficient to support real learning and real safety for trainees.”
” In our staff meetings, we’ve discussed the truth of an instructor or a student getting sick,” the instructor said. “It feels like the only thing that will get across the district that they didn’t do enough.”
3 school days after that interview, the high school reported its very first positive case to staff. Two days later on, Los Al reported their second case.
At time of publication, the school stays open.
Cover: Students at their desks inside a Los Alamitos High School classroom. Photo gotten by VICE News.
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