MILPITAS (CBS SF) — The Milpitas Unified School District said Sunday students can go back to virtual learning for at least the coming week, as the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to hamper districts around the Bay Area trying to get back up to speed after the holidays.
The superintendent’s office released a statement saying “For the week of January 10-14th MUSD school sites will be open for in person learning to meet the needs of our community. For those parents/caregivers concerned for their students’ health and safety, you may choose our independent study program, short term, or long term.”
The statement encouraged families to contact their school’s principal for more information about independent study.
The statement also said “after consulting with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, we learned that we are not able to offer a ‘districtwide quarantine’ as shared in our Friday communication. Community quarantines may be declared by County Public Health.
“In order for us to curb the increase in COVID cases amongst students and staff members, we need everyone to follow safety protocols of masking, getting vaccinations or boosters when eligible and available.”
“We need to find ways to coexist and to live with COVID. We have two years under our belt and we’ve learned a lot,” said Santa Clara County public health officer Dr. Sara Cody. “We’ve learned that in person learning is what they need and remote learning doesn’t support their mental health, emotional health and academic well-being.”
Other Bay Area school districts have been motivated to avoid returning to remote learning.
San Francisco Unified School District says it handed out more than 50,000 COVID-19 tests in one week and will continue to distribute more in the weeks ahead.
“We are committed to keeping schools open as long as we can safely do so and the Department of Public Health said, with our safety protocols in place, schools remain low-risk settings,” SFUSD spokesperson Laura Dudnick said.
West Contra Costa Unified School District was able to close school for two days beginning on Friday by moving around non-student days in the academic calendar and will remain closed Monday.
Testing at district sites will be available again on Monday before schools reopen Tuesday. WCCUSD hopes this long weekend will not only give them time to deep-clean their schools but also let students and staff recover from any COVID infections.
Milpitas Unified said families still concerned about sending students to school in their district now that there will not be a quarantine can pursue independent study for their children.
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