As coronavirus spreads in the state, will schools remain open in Stanislaus County?
Schools and colleges in Stanislaus County are preparing for contingencies to protect students and staff against coronavirus outbreaks.
At a meeting last week, superintendents and other top administrators decided to let the county public health officer make the call on suspending instruction on local campuses. Officials will prefer to use terms like “suspending face-to-face instruction”, rather than coronavirus-related “school closures”, in the hope that students will continue learning from home through online classes and video technology.
On Wednesday, the first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Stanislaus County. Local schools and colleges remained in session. With a growing number of coronavirus cases caused by person-to-person contact in California, the state Department of Public Health issued guidelines for schools to prepare for the infectious disease that’s spreading worldwide.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that community impacts from coronavirus are almost inevitable.
Other colleges in Northern California have already taken action. Sierra College in Rocklin began reducing the number of people at its campuses Monday and moving to online lectures and office hours for this month. Two office workers at Sierra College were possibly exposed to the virus.
Stanford University, where two students are in isolation and a faculty member tested positive, is moving to online formats for the last two weeks of the quarter. UC Berkeley, San Jose State and San Francisco State also are moving to online classes.
Modesto Junior College and Columbia College near Sonora have begun emergency planning and are working on contingency plans in the event students need to stay home due to infectious disease risk.
Rosie Zepeda, public information officer for MJC, said students are advised to check the college’s website for the latest information.
In the event of suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases among students or staff, resulting in campus closure, the colleges want to minimize impacts on students and continue student support services. Instruction would continue as much as possible through online classes.
Many professors are able to teach online classes on a program called Canvas and the Yosemite Community College District was offering tutorials for using ConferZoom video for streaming classes. The district activated an incident command system for responding to emergencies.
Modesto Junior College has about 19,000 students and 2,500 attend school at Columbia.
“We are ready for instruction to happen remotely,” Zepeda said. “We don’t want students to lose their credits.”
In a letter to parents Monday, Modesto City Schools said it was restricting or canceling non-essential out-of-county travel and field trips to locations where the illness has spread, including Santa Clara, Solano County, San Francisco and Seattle.
Families were urged to cooperate with measures to prevent the spread of contagious illness, such as keeping children home when sick and regular hand-washing. As a precaution, the school district said it was disinfecting classrooms, cafeterias and offices, as well as door handles, computer keyboards, desks and countertops.
In Ceres, school district officials posted photos on Twitter of its maintenance crew distributing 1,000 gallons of hand sanitizer. “Frequent handwashing is still encouraged, as it is the best method for eliminating germs,” the district said.
State health officials have recommended that schools exclude students, teachers or staff who have recently traveled to places with coronavirus cases or have been in close contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19. Any students or staff with fever or respiratory illness should be sent home immediately, the state advises.
According to the state guidance, two or more cases of community-acquired COVID-19 should lead to tighter restrictions on campus visits, measures like canceled assemblies or staggered recess times so smaller numbers of students are together.
If one or two cases emerge at a school, a campus closure may be considered, and cases among students or staff at multiple schools could lead to additional school closures. School administrators will look to the county health officer for guidance on whether to close a campus.
Stanislaus State University in Turlock noted there are no coronavirus cases in the county and has no plans to cancel or suspend classes at this time.
The county Office of Education has held student events like the regional Science Olympiad and Mock Trials because there had been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the community, communications director Cynthia Fenech said.
SCOE will seek advice from county health services on holding events now that cases have been confirmed in the county.
“In the event of a case of COVID-19 at a school site, SCOE would work with the school district and the Stanislaus County public health officer to determine next steps,” Fenech said.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
