Dear community member,
Next week is a short week with the Thanksgiving Holiday break, an opportunity for rest and gratitude.
There is much to be grateful for this year, starting with our school community and the many partners who support our success. We are also recognizing Native American Heritage Month, and the COE’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative hosts a resource portal for local data and teaching, learning and advocacy resources.
With COVID-19, RSV and Influenza A spreading in our community, it’s important to take health precautions during the winter holidays. Gatherings are always safest when guests are vaccinated, test before attending, and stay home if sick, and the California Department of Public Health has a Safe and SMART Events Playbook with further best practices.
We’ve recently made some minor updates to local COVID-19 Schools Guidance to reflect new recommendations from the state. Namely, the period after a COVID-19 infection during which a student or staff member can forego certain precautions if re-exposed was shortened from 90 to 30 days. Countywide TK-12 policies requiring students with COVID-19 symptoms to stay home and test remain in effect, and you can review these guidelines in full at covid19guidance.santacruzcoe.org.
Our 5 school community COVID-19 testing locations will be closed Thursday, November 24, through Sunday, November 27. Tests administered Wednesday, November 23, should have results available by Thursday morning, and all sites will reopen on Monday, November 28.
As a final note, our newsletter will be on hiatus next week. I look forward to reconnecting the following week, and in the meantime you can follow the COE on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with our latest happenings.
In gratitude,
Dr. Faris Sabbah
County Superintendent of Schools