Parent Update 11-17-20
November 17, 2020
RE: COVID-19 Reopening Update
Dear MMCA Families,
On November 16, Placer County moved back to the “widespread” Purple Tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. MMCA reopened our campus to in-person instruction in September. Countywide, our schools are considered open and will be allowed to remain open.
According to Placer County Public Health, cases in schools have remained relatively contained and in-person instruction is not currently considered a driving factor in recent case increases. Household transmission and social gatherings have been key drivers of transmission. As such, public health officials are urging residents to use many of the same precautions that have been in use in public venues for the duration of the pandemic.
Based on Placer County Public Health’s current guidance, our local MMCA Board voted last night to modify our COVID-19 reopening plan - instead of automatically switching to ‘100% distance learning’ with the County in Purple, the plan now specifies a switch to ‘100% distance learning’ when mandated by Placer County or California’s Department of Public Health.
Thus far, while we’ve had some kids that have had to quarantine for outside of school exposures, we’ve had a minimal COVID-19 impact on our campus. We’ve had one student that tested positive two months ago and no staff members have tested positive yet. The reality is that I expect both of those numbers will change in the coming months. As a reminder, here are the links to our ‘how we’ll handle COVID-19’ and ‘where can my child get tested’ protocols:
At the school level, we will continue to emphasize regular hand washing / sanitizing, physical distancing between staff and staff and students on campus, indoor mask/shield wearing for students and staff and CDC’s cleaning protocols related to wiping down common touched surfaces. Additionally, we are running our HVAC systems with their RGF REME Halo based air purification systems for 2.5 hours before class starts and for 2.5 hours after class is over. Within the last month, RGF has received third party verification that their purification systems have a 99.9% elimination rate for COVID-19 in conditioned air and surfaces (https://www.rgf.com/?m).
As we head into the holiday season, Placer County Public Health encourages all of us to please take steps to reduce the risk of COVID-19 so that when we return from holiday breaks, there will be less chance of germs returning along with us. Placer County Public Health has published some tips for the holidays here.
Sincerely,
Brent
*Note: Portions of this letter were written by PCOE as a joint press release intended for use by all Placer County Public Schools.
