Windsor Unified School District

September 25^th, 2020

Dear Windsor Community,

I’d like to begin by saying thank you for all you have done for our students. Instruction via distance learning is difficult, and the resilience that students, families, and teachers have shown is astounding. As promised for September 25, this is to let you know our next steps.

At this time, my report to you is that the district will continue in distance learning through at least October 23, 2020, but most likely longer. There are many factors for this, and the majority are summed up with Sonoma County currently still being in the “purple” tier. If a County resides in the purple tier, by definition, it means that COVID-19 is considered “widespread” throughout the County.

Many of you might be hearing about school districts in other Counties close by opening schools in some form. Those Counties are operating very differently from us and are not easily comparable as they are in the red or orange tiers. This means that the coronavirus is not as widespread in their County as it is in Sonoma County. As Sonoma County is still in the purple tier, the Windsor Unified School District is not allowed to bring students back for in-person instruction without a waiver being issued from the Sonoma County Public Health Officer.

As I understand the waiver process, Windsor would not be a district who would be granted a waiver based on our size. Should Sonoma County enter into the red tier in the future we would have to maintain that status for at least two weeks. Then, schools must then wait an additional two weeks until they are authorized to reopen under the state’s framework.

In Sonoma County, we are attempting to overcome a number of different barriers that are making it extremely difficult to bring back students in any fashion:

• Staff and student safety: District administration and teachers are currently working together to establish protocols that will ensure the safety of both students and staff, as well as those family members at home who are coming into direct contact with our students and staff. This has been an ongoing endeavor, but as things have changed with COVID-19 over time we have had to revisit many different aspects of safety.
• Asymptomatic students: There is increasing evidence that many students who have COVID-19 will not show any symptoms. As such, it will be extremely difficult to ensure that all students attending in person classes are COVID-19 negative. UCSF has created a calculator that shows the probability of an asymptomatic student being present in school based on the specific infection rate of the County. The risk in a group of 100 that at least 1 child will have COVID-19 is 57.5 %.
• Contact tracing: As of September 11^th, the school district is now responsible for conducting all contact tracing instead of Sonoma County Public Health. This means that we are now required to oversee the contact tracing for over 5000 people. Up until September 11^th, this was not the responsibility of the district. We are currently getting staff members trained to assess the feasibility of conducting our own contact tracing.
• Staff testing: As of September 11^th, the school district is now responsible to manage all aspects of staff testing for COVID-19. This means that we are now responsible for finding the testing facilities, paying for testing, and monitoring the results. Up until September 11^th, this was not the responsibility of the district. It is required that 100% of staff needs to be tested every two months. We are currently assessing the feasibility of managing staff testing with no assistance from Sonoma County Public Health.
• Liability coverage: The district’s insurance provider specifically excludes communicable disease.  Therefore, there is no coverage for any claims-related costs resulting from the spread of the COVID-19. This means that lawsuits can be brought forward against the school district for COVID-19 related issues and the legal fees for the district to potentially defend itself would come directly from the general fund.

The district is actively working to overcome these barriers, but many of them are proving very difficult. Due to Sonoma County continuing in the purple tier, and many of the aforementioned barriers to returning still not being solved, Windsor Unified will be remaining in distance learning and it is highly unlikely that our students will be returning for in-person instruction prior to winter break. Regardless, we are committed to exploring all options, and using the most up to date data, before making that final determination.

I wish that I could be more definitive in my correspondence as to how long we will continue in distance learning, but I am hesitant to commit the district to a specific time-frame before fully exploring how to potentially overcome the many barriers that I mentioned above. I hope that you will continue to do your very best to persevere and be kind to yourself during this extremely difficult time. As a district, we are committed to thoroughly exploring all possibilities, and will update you as soon as we feel that we have a thorough understanding of all that we are trying to overcome.

Thank you for your understanding and your trust.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Decker

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