How Monterey County school tackle COVID-19 testing for back-to-school
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION) With students back for in-person instruction, schools must follow state guidelines when it comes to classroom exposures.
The Alisal Union School District in Salinas is administering tests to students when there's classroom exposure. This is part of the district's new testing program for modified quarantine.
Socorro Ochoa, a mother of a student who attends Monte Bella Elementary School said, she was contacted by the school and was informed that there was a positive case.
“We get notifications or letters sent home in both languages to let us know as parents what's going on if there's a positive case," said Ochoa. "What they’re doing and the steps they are taking for the kid's safety.”
It's a form of covid surveillance that the Alisal Union School District has put in place for the school year. This modified quarantine in classrooms is activated when there's a positive case.
Students and staff who test positive stay home for ten days while other students continue attending school but, with frequent testing.
The Director Of People Personnel Services at Alisal Union School District, Christina Palmer said, “So while the class is not closed, in order to continue to participate in the class, students and staff must have a negative test result."
Christina Palmer is in charge of testing students and staff across the entire Alisal Union School District. She administers two tests per week for each individual. However, parents will be notified first and will have to give permission for the tests to be administered.
"If a parent does not submit that signed form, their child then is not going to be tested but they then are not part of the modified quarantine," said Palmer. "They'll have to do the rest of those ten days back home.”
The notification process comes next, which involves two forms of communication, similar to Gonzales Unified School District
"If your student was not in a classroom, where there was another student who tested positive, you would not expect to receive a notification, said the Superintendent Gonzales Unified School District, Yvette Irving. "Unless your site principal has contacted you to say that your child needs to quarantine, the expectation is that students are in school.”
The Gonzales Unified School District offers tests once a week and recommends that parents take their children to get tested if they have symptoms.
