COVID Updates
Thank you to all of our MBUSD teachers, staff and administrators for their tremendous efforts this first week of 2022 focused on keeping our schools open for in-person instruction. Thank you to our families for their support and cooperation during a very challenging start to the New Year. Thank you to our students for conscientiously engaging in actions that promote safe and healthy classrooms and campuses. Together, we can ensure that, despite the pandemic, we are giving our collective best. Please take a moment to acknowledge everyone’s contributions, provide a word of thanks, and let them know that we are all here for each other.
For close contacts of positive cases, we remain able to allow individuals to remain in school or at work under some circumstances:
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Fully vaccinated students and employees whose close contact occurred in any setting - those for whom it’s been 14 days since the full course of their initial vaccination (including a booster shot, if eligible) - may continue to attend school if they test the day they become aware of the close contact, test again on Day 5 , and wear upgraded masks for 10 days after their last date of exposure.
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Unvaccinated students whose close contact occurred in a school setting and whom school staff can verify were fully masked during the close contact are still eligible for Modified Quarantine if they test the day they become aware of the close contact and on Day 5 after the exposure. Students under Modified Quarantine are now required to wear upgraded masks for 10 days after their last date of exposure.
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Unvaccinated students whose close contact occurred in a non-school setting (i.e. at home, a birthday party or a movie theater) or whose close contact occurred while either person was unmasked, as well as unvaccinated employees in any setting, will need to quarantine according to LACDPH guidelines, which mirror the requirements for positive cases: they must isolate for a minimum of 5 days and can return on day 6 if they are asymptomatic, have a negative test on day 5, and continue to wear an upgraded mask for 10 days after their last date of exposure.
Close contacts who are permitted to be in school/at work may continue to attend on day 0 or 1 (or whenever they are identified) and get tested after school/work, and they may continue to attend school/work while awaiting results.
At-Home Testing Kits
The State of California has obtained at-home rapid antigen test kits for all California students in grades TK through 12. The use of these free home tests should be supervised by an adult, and their purpose is to identify whether a student is positive for COVID.
Principals have sent home information about school-specific distribution instructions. The kits contain two tests; we ask that families use one of those tests this weekend to inform attendance on Monday, January 10 and the other to inform attendance on Tuesday, January 18, as Monday is a federal holiday recognizing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
If your student tests positive for COVID, please keep them home and report the case to your school site as soon as possible.
Testing Requirements for Cases and Close Contacts
In order to be able to continue to attend or return after day 5, close contacts or positive cases must provide evidence of a test taken on day 5, and must submit results as soon as they are received. Individuals who do not comply with this will not be able to attend school until the full 10 day quarantine or isolation period has ended.
We recommend that individuals submit lab-verified or supervised test results to ensure greater accuracy and reliability when submitting evidence that they do not have COVID. However, FDA-approved at-home tests are also recognized as valid by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and MBUSD, and we will accept these as well.
Importantly, we recommend antigen testing for students who are testing to return from Modified Quarantine and for any individual that has previously tested positive. Antigen tests are a better indicator that the infectious period has passed than the more sensitive PCR tests that can detect non-contagious levels of the virus long after the individual has recovered.
If an individual must submit an over-the-counter test, it needs to be an FDA-authorized test, and the individual must provide a photograph of the negative test with the individual’s name and the date the test was taken as well as a signed digital attestation form confirming that the test was administered properly and shows results for the individual submitting it. Please watch for school-specific communication from your school principal about how to submit an at-home test result.
COVID-19 Website Updates
We have all been receiving many questions from families and staff about quarantine timelines, testing requirements related to quarantine, and the Ruvna screening questions. We have made five important changes to the website this week:
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The homepage button is changed from “Reopening Our Schools” to COVID-19 Info.
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The link for the Decision Pathways for Symptoms & Exposures in TK-12 has been updated to the most recent version dated January 5, 2022. This is the accurate document to use and the link will continue to be updated to the County. The charts contain a live link to the December 31, 2021 Isolation Instructions described below.
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A new reference document button (on the right-hand side of screen, or at the bottom if you are viewing it on your phone) has been added and is entitled Isolation Instructions for People with COVID (updated December 31, 2021).
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A new button with updated guidance about Quarantine and Other Instructions for Close Contacts (dated December 31, 2021).
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An updated document (and new to the webpage) is a PDF of the Ruvna Pre-Screener for Adults and Students, dated January 3, 2022. This is for reference purposes, and we continue to require students and staff to use the online system to be admitted to campus.
Masking
The State of California and LACDPH requirement to wear masks at all times when indoors for school districts, campuses, classrooms and offices remains in effect. There are a series of new masking requirements for students and staff which include requiring masks outdoors in crowded spaces where physical distancing is not feasible (except when actively eating or drinking), along with requirements for upgraded masks for staff and recommendations for upgraded masks for students.
The MBUSD outdoor mask requirement for elementary and middle schools moving from ‘required’ to ‘strongly encouraged’ on the return from the winter break aligns with the LACDPH outdoor mask requirement. We strongly encourage all preschool, elementary, middle school and high school students to wear masks outdoors in crowded spaces where physical distancing is not feasible, except when actively eating or drinking. Principals have discretion to make site-specific outdoor mask decisions related to how lunch areas, passing periods, and different recess, campus activities and other events are handled.
Per new LACDPH guidelines, all District employees will be provided with and required to wear upgraded masks, which are currently available for staff at our schools and offices.
LACDPH recommends that all students wear a well-fitting, non-cloth mask with multiple layers of non-woven material with a nose-wire. While cloth masks are permissible for students, surgical, N-95 and KN-95 masks provide good single mask protection (please be sure to consider whether N-95 and KN-95 masks are the right size for younger students). Additionally, LACDPH states that, for those wearing surgical masks, double masking, with a cloth face covering worn over the surgical mask, is recommended for enhanced protection.
See the most recent LACDPH mask guidance for students here and for staff here, which includes descriptions about the different types of masks and how to wear them. We thank you for your support and cooperation with these changing mask requirements and recommendations.
Vaccination
Vaccination rates for students ages 5-11 and 12-17 continue to climb. Strong participation in COVID vaccinations supports our schools’ health and safety efforts, which are focused on ensuring our ability to continue to support and provide daily in-person instruction for our students.
We continue to urge all eligible students, staff and community members to get vaccinated and, when allowed, to receive a booster. This is important because new LACDPH guidance now defines ‘fully vaccinated’ to include a booster shot when an individual is eligible.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) signed off on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization for booster doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds. To find out about availability of boosters for anyone age 12 and up, or to schedule vaccination appointments for anyone age 5 and up, parents are encouraged to visit California’s myturn.ca.gov website.
COVID Testing
MBUSD’s weekly on-site testing program is open to asymptomatic students and staff members only. Now more than ever, if not already participating, please be sure to sign your student(s) up for our weekly testing.
Our on-site testing is available ONLY to registered asymptomatic staff and students at their own school site. We encourage all students and staff to sign up for weekly testing.
If a student or staff member is symptomatic or has been exposed to someone with a positive diagnosis, they should seek testing from an off-site provider. One option to do this is through Beach Cities Health District, where students or staff members can make an appointment using this BCHD COVID-19 Testing Registration Link. (In order to register, students will need their Aeries identification number as well as the email of the parent listed as the student’s first parent contact in Aeries, and staff members will need the last 6 digits of their Employee ID number and their District email address ending with mbusd.org.) Other ways to obtain a COVID test include:
Site administrators, office managers, and Health staff are working around the clock to implement the latest guidance with regard to testing, contact tracing, and notifications, while at the same time keeping students and staff safe in school and minimizing the spread. As you know, there are many positive cases locally and across LA County, leading to a shortage of staff and an increase in workload. Thank you for your patience as sites prioritize notifying parents about positive cases on campus, completing contact tracing, and informing close contacts.
Instructional Support for Students at Home During Illness and Quarantine
If your child needs to stay home due to illness and quarantine, short-term independent study is available. At the elementary level, students can stay engaged by joining our live elementary synchronous morning meetings via Zoom with our MBUSD Elementary Independent Study teacher, Mrs. Opfer. Your child’s teacher will share the Zoom link with you and provide additional ways for your child to stay engaged in their learning. At the middle or high school level, students should email their teachers and stay up to date by checking Aeries and Google Classroom multiple times daily. If your student is on a short-term independent study agreement due to quarantine, your student may access Air Tutors support. Contact information for Air Tutors is included in the independent study learning agreement. Please visit our Educational Services webpage for more information.
Elementary Parent Conferences
Elementary parent conferences will be held virtually. Please watch for information from your school principal and teacher about site- and classroom-specific details.
Kindergarten Information Day
Our annual Kinder Info Day event will take place on Saturday, January 29 at 9:30 am at the Cafeteria area of Pacific Elementary School. If you have neighbors or friends in the community with rising Kindergarteners, we encourage you to welcome them to attend. This is a great opportunity for parents to meet teachers and principals, and hear about the outstanding programs that await their children in MBUSD.
January 12, 2022 Board Meeting
The next meeting of the Board of Trustees will be on Wednesday, January 12 at 5:00 p.m. at the District Office, and the public is welcome to attend. To provide public comment, you may submit a written comment here or you may come to the District Office Board Room and submit a public comment card to be invited to speak in person at the podium during the Board meeting. Public commenters may speak in person from either inside or outside the Board Room. The public is welcome to attend the full meeting and to listen and watch as the Board conducts its business. Those who cannot attend in person may watch the Livestream.
The next Superintendent Newsletter will be published on Friday, January 14.
Everyone has been working hard to create a school year as normal as possible for our students. Amid much progress, the Omicron variant has made the start to 2022 a challenging one. I know that, together, we can take the steps necessary to provide our students the in-person, safe and healthy, and high-quality educational experience they deserve.
Sincerely,
