COVID-19 outbreaks have closed two Oakland classrooms since kids returned to school last week for the fall term, raising concerns among some parents about whether the highly contagious delta variant of the virus can be kept in check on campuses as cases rise across the country.
Oakland Unified School District, which welcomed students back for the fall term Aug. 9, has reported two classrooms closed and students quarantined due to outbreaks at Montclair Elementary and Oakland High School.
And cases continue to rise in two Brentwood school districts that were among the first Bay Area schools to reopen for the fall.
In Oakland, the district reported 16 student and staff cases at Oakland High and five at Montclair Elementary, resulting in one classroom at each school in full at-home quarantine. Oakland Unified reported cases among a total of 58 students and 10 staff members districtwide Monday after its first week. That’s a small fraction of its 50,000 students at more than 100 schools.
But some parents are uneasy about sending their kids back as the delta variant of COVID-19 spreads rapidly across the country.
“With the delta variant blowing up right now just as kids are going back, it’s a real concern,” said one Montclair parent, who did not want to be identified. “We’ve got to think about the safety and kids first. I know the distance learning was not perfect, but I think there’s a much larger risk of kids getting coronavirus while being in in-person learning in schools.”
Oakland Unified had no immediate comment about the outbreaks.
But in a notice to families, Montclair Principal Maite Barloga said she too is worried.
“I regret to inform you that we have had multiple positive COVID cases at Montclair our first week,” Barloga wrote. “While it was a beautiful week seeing the joy and smiling eyes of our students back at school after being distanced so long, I have been distracted with worry. We are doing everything we can to keep our entire Montclair community safe and healthy. This is new territory for us as a school site as well as our district, county, nation and world. We all know our children need to be back at school and I want to make sure they are able to remain in person at Montclair.”
The school, she said, will begin “cohorting” classes — keeping those kids apart from others — at recess and lunch starting Monday to control exposure.
Oakland Unified requires face masks for all students both indoors, as required by the state, and outdoors. The district last week also said it would require all staff to be vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19, which the state has since made a requirement as well.
Barloga urged parents not to send their kids to school if they seem to be sick and that those potentially exposed would be contacted and told what to do. She added that she “will make accommodations” for parents not comfortable sending their children to school.
“This virus could affect us at anytime,” Barloga wrote, “and we need to do everything we can to be aware, cautious and safe.”
Check back for more on this developing story.
