Why is Idyllwild School by far the most COVID-infected school in HUSD?

Hemet Unified School District’s online Dashboard is posted daily. It shows key COVID statistics for each of the district’s schools on a rolling, two-current-week basis.

On Thursday, Sept. 30, HUSD’s daily Dashboard showed Idyllwild School had by far the highest COVID infection percentage in its combined student/staff population of any school in HUSD. Specifically, 6.84% of Idyllwild School’s student/staff population showed as infected with COVID during the previous two weeks — 11 students and 10 staff members. No other school showed even half as many infected staff members. Hemet High School was in second place, showing 2.12% of its student/staff infected with COVID.

Every other school in the district showed less than 2% infection of its student/staff population: Little Lake Elementary was in third place with 1.62%, less than one-quarter of Idyllwild School’s percentage. Hamilton High showed 0.44%, less than one-half of one percent and only about one-fifth of Hemet High’s infected percentage.

By email, the Town Crier contacted Idyllwild School Principal Nicole Picchiottino asking why she thought Idyllwild School had more than three times the student/staff COVID infection rate of the second-highest HUSD school on the list. The TC also inquired as to whether Idyllwild School has its own regulations regarding COVID or whether it must follow HUSD regulations. Picchiottino passed the questions on to the HUSD offices where HUSD Public Information Officer Alexandria Sponheim replied instead.

Sponheim responded that Idyllwild School does not issue its own regulations, but “follows the direction of the district. Hemet Unified School District complies with all California Department of Public Health and Riverside County Department of Public Health Guidelines. These guidelines address masking, testing, distancing and quarantining.”

Sponheim further wrote, “There has been a sudden increase in confirmed cases at our Idyllwild School and unfortunately, the community is experiencing the same.” She then expressed the district’s condolences at the recent passing of our community members.

By this response, HUSD seemed to be suggesting that the high rate of COVID in Idyllwild School is due to the high COVID rate in our community rather than to anything the school is doing or failing to do. Perhaps that’s so.

But maybe it’s the other way around. Could some condition or conditions at Idyllwild School be spreading infection to our whole community through our children? Lax masking, testing, distancing or quarantining? A failing ventilation system?

So, this appears to be a chicken-or-the-egg situation. But, in either case, shouldn’t HUSD be taking extraordinary measures to address Idyllwild School’s extraordinary problem? Sponheim did not indicate that HUSD was considering any special action to investigate the cause or to attempt to arrest the exceptionally high incidence of COVID in Idyllwild School.

So, on Sunday, Oct. 3, the Town Crier sent a follow-up inquiry to Sponheim asking, “Is HUSD implementing any special action (1) to investigate the cause of the exceptionally high incidence of COVID in Idyllwild School’s student/staff population? Or, (2) to attempt to arrest it? If so, what?” On Monday, Sponheim responded that HUSD is looking into the issue.

At Idyllwild Arts Academy, Director of Marketing Molly Mapel responded to the Town Crier’s question as to what the school was doing to combat COVID on the IAA campus. She replied with the statement, “We are providing surveillance testing in partnership with Valencia Branch Laboratories/the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)/Color for anyone in our school community that would like to be tested each week. Unvaccinated students and employees are required to get tested each week. To date, we have had 5 positive cases. Masks are required for everyone in all indoor spaces. Masks are also required in outside spaces when we gather as a full community. By mid-October, 257 out of 280 students will be fully vaccinated, giving us a 92% student vaccination rate.”

On Friday, Oct. 1, the HUSD Dashboard reported that another student was infected at Idyllwild School, and its rolling two-week combined student/staff infection percentage rose to 7.17%. Hemet High’s rose to 2.35%. Again, no other schools in the district were above 2%.

On Saturday, Oct. 2, two students dropped off the rolling two-week count, and Idyllwild School’s combined student/staff infection percentage dropped to 6.51%, while Hemet High’s rose to 2.51%. And again, no other schools in the district were above 2%.

On Sunday, Oct. 3, the HUSD Dashboard showed Idyllwild School at 5.54%, and Hemet High at 2.39%. On Monday, Oct. 4, there was no change. On Tuesday, Oct. 5, Idyllwild School was at 5.21% and Hemet High was at 2.04%. Still, they are the only schools in the district above 2%.

Is it possible that Idyllwild is a tourism community that invites super-spreader events? The TC looked into other tourist communities to see how their schools were fairing on number of COVID cases.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, the Dashboard of the Alpine Union School District — a mountain tourist town in San Diego County with a combined student/staff population of 1,768 — reported four active COVID cases, which is 0.23%. Also on Sunday, the Dashboard of Rim of the World School District in the Lake Arrowhead area of the San Bernardino Mountains reported four currently active student/staff COVID cases, which is 0.03%.

Perhaps just with being open for in-person instruction in Idyllwild, even with prescribed safety measures, an influx in cases is unavoidable. Or perhaps not.

On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to add COVID to the current list of 10 diseases (polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenzae B, hepatitis B, varicella, measles, mumps and rubella) to which immunization already is required for a child to attend schools in California. According to California government websites, the vaccinations requirement is avoided only by documentation of a permanent medical exemption — or by a “personal-beliefs” exemption that was filed prior to 2016.