California principals in quarantine after in-person meeting
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — More than 40 school principals in the San Francisco Bay Area are in quarantine after being exposed to the coronavirus during an in-person meeting last month to discuss reopening campuses, according to a newspaper report.
A person who attended the June 19 meeting by administrators of the Santa Clara Unified School District tested positive a few days later, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.
District Superintendent Stella Kemp confirmed the exposure to the school board during an online meeting last week, the Chronicle said.
“Given the complexity required in the development of our reopening plan, some of our staff meetings are taking place in person,” Kemp said. “Of course those meetings are being conducted under the strict guidelines provided to us by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.”
Some members of the school board questioned Kemp’s decision to hold an in-person meeting. The superintendent insisted the meeting was necessary, adding that everyone who attended was tested and as far as she knows no one else tested positive.
The county public health order does not give a recommendation on number of people attending a meeting but does state, “Only those employees performing job duties that they cannot feasibly perform from home may come to a business’s facility to work.”
On Tuesday, health officials gave county schools a guide for reopening for in-person instruction in the fall but said they should be ready to resume instruction remotely if coronavirus conditions demand further shutdowns.