East Bay students and teachers tested positive for COVID-19 just days after returning to school.
The outbreak happened in a San Ramon Valley School District special education class just days after reopening last month.
Students at a developmentally disabled classroom in Del Amigo High School were unable to wear masks and all ended up testing positive, raising eyebrows as the district prepares to reopen even more classes after Christmas.
“My husband and I are miserable with symptoms which have ranged from shortness of breath, terrible headaches, fatigue,” said autism specialist Jan Jimenez.
She says the last few weeks have been a nightmare. Jimenez returned to her classroom on November 17 as part of her school district’s phase two reopening, only to get COVID-19 along with all of her students and fellow classroom staff -- eight people in all
“The sad part for me is my class and myself we were all guinea pigs, guinea pigs on a system that did not work in our special education classroom,” said Jimenez.
The district says they’re learning from the incident and plan to move forward with their next phase of reopening.
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“We apologize that this has happened, we’re working hard to ensure it doesn’t happen again,” said San Ramon Valley District Superintendent John Malloy.
He said the district has learned from the incident. He said teachers will now be given medical grade PPE including N-95 masks and the district is making sure all staff and parents understand the safety protocols.
“Doing our best and working hard to keep kids and staff safe. And we’re learning this is emerging and when we do have a circumstance like this we have to learn from it and we are,” said Malloy.
The district is now gearing up to welcome 10,000 kids back to its 36 campuses on Jan. 5. They say they’re working hand in hand with the health department to keep everyone safe.
“Never, ever send your student to school if you have even the slightest inkling that there’s a concern that they might be sick,” said Jimenez.
