Schools in Stanislaus County reporting 277 COVID-19 cases last week
As of Wednesday, 4,344 students and staff were in quarantine across Stanislaus schools, according to a new coronavirus dashboard posted weekly by the Health Services Agency.
One hundred thirty people were in isolation due to a positive test.
The number of people in quarantine refers to all close contacts, including those staying home for 10 days, staying home for seven days with a negative test on Day 5 and those continuing to attend school in person while testing negative twice over 10 days. The number of people in quarantine more than tripled compared to last week’s data.
The county-level numbers provide a broad picture of how COVID-19 cases and quarantine procedures have affected the first few weeks of in-person school. Some districts have also launched their own data displays as COVID-19 cases increase.
Countywide trends
The county’s dashboard reflects weekly data from all public school districts and 19 private or charter schools, county spokeswoman Maria Blanco said in an email.
Stanislaus schools reported 277 COVID-19 cases for the week starting Aug. 22, and 58 so far this week.
Schools reported 11 outbreaks, defined as three or more cases linked to one exposure. There were 502 active exposure events being monitored for additional cases. The county identified 25 active school clusters; a cluster is two cases linked to one exposure.
Staff accounted for the highest percentage of positive cases, at about 27%. Students in pre-K through fourth grade made up the second largest portion of cases, followed by students in high school.
Cases, positivity rates up at larger districts
Turlock Unified reported 79 cases last week, compared to 60 the prior week. The cases resulted in 886 people identified as close contacts. Quarantines depend on a person’s symptoms, vaccination status, mask-wearing and parent consent to be tested on campus, so not all of the 886 people exposed are learning from home.
The positivity rate at Modesto City Schools was 0.431% last week, according to data posted Tuesday. This nearly doubles the positivity rate from the week prior. Only one school, Everett Elementary, reached a positivity rate over 1%, and just four cases were reported.
The district tallied 130 cases last week.
School officials have started posting updates to the dashboard daily, in place of sending mass notifications out to parents when a case was identified at their child’s school, spokeswoman Krista Noonan said. Parents are still notified if their child was found to be a close contact, Noonan said.
The district has not released the number of close contacts identified or the number of students learning at home due to quarantine or potential symptoms. The district’s data dashboards show 563 fewer people came to campus the week of Aug. 21 compared to the week starting Aug. 14.
Noonan said she did not have a districtwide breakdown of parents who kept their children home to quarantine compared to those who elected to have their children tested at school to continue attending in person.
Ceres Union School District reported a 0.271% positivity rate last week, dropping from 0.305% the week prior. Students accounted for 39 of the 47 cases, and staff for eight.
Most schools in Ceres saw three or fewer cases. Six cases came from Ceres High School.
Few cases impact smaller districts
Keyes Union school district has quarantined four classes over the first three weeks of school, Superintendent Helio Brasil said in an email. School leaders made this decision in collaboration with county public health officials, he said.
In contrast to the 2020-21 school year, districts have not been given a benchmark by which to measure when a classroom or school must shut down.
Blanco previously told The Bee that local officials will defer to the California Department of Public Health on setting a threshold for shutting down a classroom or school. State officials have not provided a cap this year, and Stanislaus County won’t set its own guidelines, Blanco said.
About 10% of Denair Unified students and staff have quarantined during the first two weeks of school, Superintendent Terry Metzger wrote in a letter to parents Monday evening. This includes people who tested positive and people who were exposed as close contacts.
Most cases in Denair were spread through the community, not through school, Metzger wrote.
Hughson Unified installed computers in every classroom so that students staying home “for any reason” can participate in their regular classes, according to a press release. Districts including Turlock and Modesto provide students with review packets and assignments, but do not provide video calls into class for students.
Hughson reported about 80 student and teacher cases over the first week of school. About 90% of parents whose children were identified as close contacts chose a “modified quarantine” in which students can stay in school with two negative tests, but not participate in extracurricular activities, according to a district press release.
Patterson Unified has confirmed six staff cases and 12 student cases since school began Aug. 19, spokesman Johnny Padilla confirmed in an email Wednesday. Twelve people have been required to quarantine for 10 days.
Sylvan Unified’s positivity rate was 0.91% as of Tuesday.
An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect weekly case total from Turlock Unified.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
