A Town Crier question that the one Idyllwild School first-grade class this year recently may have been sent home to quarantine due to exposure to a student(s) who tested positive for COVID-19 was posed, along with other questions, to Idyllwild School Principal Nicole Picchiottino.
Instead, Hemet Unified School District Public Information Officer Alexandrea Sponheim responded to the questions.
TC: Are students being tested at the school? If not, how was it determined that this student tested positive?
AS: Idyllwild School was notified of a possible exposure through the individual.
TC: Is the rumor true that two students tested positive in first grade and all the first grade students were sent home to quarantine? If so, how long will they quarantine and will there be online learning opportunities?
AS: Due to confidentiality, we are unable to provide specifics of the situation such as grade-level data. However, if an individual is identified to have been exposed (meaning being within 6 feet of an individual testing positive for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period) they will need to quarantine for 10 days. Independent study options are available for students that have been identified as being exposed.
TC: Can you send me the COVID regulations for Idyllwild School, i.e. masks in classrooms, etc. Are masks required outside on school grounds? If not, is social distancing practiced outside on the playground/sports areas and/or at lunch? Are students still sitting next to each other on picnic benches at lunch, for instance?
AS: Idyllwild School continues to follow local and state mandates and recommendations. Due to current guidelines, masks are required for all individuals in an indoor setting and outside masks are optional. At this time, neither local nor state entities have social distancing requirements or recommendations for outdoor activities. Students eat lunch with their class cohort to ensure that if there were an exposure, staff would be able to identify students in close proximity.
Parent of a first grader Margaret Gray also was asked these questions and her answers were more forthcoming, yet expressing frustration and concern.
“Students are not being tested at the school, despite my (and other parents) requesting in person and via email that students be tested,” said Gray. “I am under the impression that the federal government gave all schools funding earmarked for testing, so I’d love to know why HUSD isn’t spending those dollars on testing.”
Gray said, “My understanding is that three first grade students tested positive. We were told midday on Tuesday, [Sept. 6] that two students tested positive (so after our children were already in school for the day, mixing with students who had been exposed to the positive students the week prior) and that asymptomatic exposed students would be tested at the school twice per week.”
HUSD’s website states: “SoCal Emergency Medicine will conduct testing at elementary sites on Tuesday and Thursdays and at Secondary sites on Wednesday and Friday.”
When asked Monday afternoon if that is occurring at Idyllwild School, Sponheim said, “Yes, testing is set to occur in Idyllwild on Tuesday and Thursday.” When asked when it will begin, she said the next day, Tuesday, Sept. 14.
HUSD’s website lists three Idyllwild School students and no staff members as testing positive for COVID-19 out of 307 students and staff. After 14 days, a case is removed so the students would have tested positive within the last 14 days.
“The next day, Wednesday …, I was called by the school at 11 a.m. and told that my child’s class was being closed and we needed to come pick him up immediately,” said Gray. “No one at the school seemed to know why the call was made to close the classroom. We have been told they can return back to school on Thursday, [Sept. 16].
“Students were given the opportunity to do distance learning with their former teacher (the first grade teacher was laid off because of low enrollment and the first graders were supposed to get a new teacher tomorrow, Monday, [Sept. 13]) or do an independent study packet of paper work,” Gray said.
When Picchiottino was asked about whether the low enrollment resulting in a lay off was because parents/guardians are removing their children from school due to mask mandates, she did not respond.
“We were told that the first grade teacher was laid off due to low-enrollment, and are really disappointed with the decision to lay off Mrs. Santiago — especially after the kids have already gotten the chance to connect with her,” said Gray. “Yes, Mrs. Tirheimer, a kinder teacher, is taking over the class.”
Gray was not sure why parents might have pulled their children out of school.
“Masks are required at school but are not required outside,” Gray said. “Some days students are eating lunch in the cafeteria, inside. They are sitting with their classes, but there is more than one class inside at a time.
“I don’t believe there are any social distancing policies in place for lunch. In the beginning of the year, they were not wearing masks during PE inside, but that has now changed and they are required to wear masks inside always except when eating, even though HUSD policy is that masks are optional (even inside) during PE/physical activity …
“This year of all years, kids need as consistent and reliable of a learning environment as possible, and HUSD is sure not providing that.”
In a letter to the HUSD governing board, Gray wrote, “… the district and/or Idyllwild School should be testing students who have known exposure to COVID. Why is the district and/or the school choosing instead to simply close classrooms for 10 days? Closing classrooms creates further missed learning, does not identify infected students, and causes undue stress and problems for working parents who depend on their children attending school while they are at work.”
She chastised the board for being unprepared for COVID-19. In a response, Trustee Vic Scavarda, whose district covers Idyllwild School, wrote, “I am sorry that your child was affected by the closure of your son’s class, but it was a decision by the board based on the information that we have and the recommendation of Riverside County Public Health. In a school as small as Idyllwild, the threat of further infection is very real and we don’t want to amplify the spread to other classrooms.
“I must disagree with you on your points that the district is unprepared and has done nothing over the last 18 months.
“Our priority, as stated at every board meeting in recent memory, is to keep the schools open for in-class instruction for as many students as possible.
“Closures are necessary to try to stop the spread to other students and classrooms. It might not work, given that siblings and friends will mingle with each other during the school day.”
Gray responded, “You do not address my concerns. I am asking that the district:
“1) Clearly communicate their policies to families and
“2) spend the earmarked federal dollars they have received for testing on testing.”
On Monday, Sept. 13, Trustee Megan Haley wrote to Gray, “Thank you for sharing your concerns; please be patient with our team as the policies and mandates we are being handed down through [California Department of Public Health] are constantly being updated and changed.”
HUSD issued this statement Friday, Sept. 10: “On Friday, we experienced a significant increase in the amount of COVID-19 exposures due to an influx of COVID-confirmed cases. In keeping with the 24-hour timeline of the notification window, we responded quickly to ensure the health and safety of our students and families …”
The statement gave these responses to the COVID-19 increases:
“Effective this morning, we have updated our Student Exposure/Contact Tracing and Exclusion Practices. We have also implemented temperature checks and screening questions that will be asked upon entry to all sites. This was communicated to families last Friday. (Available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1COqZKNCLhm14NQpxCIQdVeJBbDv2n_xQ/view)
“Additionally, we are implementing seating charts at all school sites. Seating charts will help us be more effective in tracking exposures as they occur.
“Lastly, we are creating a task force of staff that is exclusively responsible for answering questions related to guidelines. Families will be able to access this staff both during the week and on weekends. We understand the need to contact a live person and receive real-time answers to questions. We hope that this new unit will provide support to families and allows us to increase our response times when mitigating incoming calls and emails.”
HUSD was to have its regular board meeting at Idyllwild School at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, where Gray and other parents planned to express their frustrations and concerns.
