Two more coronavirus cases were confirmed among the Vista Unified School District student population Monday.
The total is now at four, with the number of students and teachers forced into quarantine likely to rise in addition to the nearly 200 hundred students and a handful of staff members connected to cases at Mission Vista High School.
The two newest cases were reported at Alamosa Park Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School, according to the district.
VUSD scheduled a special virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation.
Alamosa Park principal Kyle Ruggles told school families in a letter Monday there is no reason to close down the campus, which reopened along with the rest of the district to willing students Oct. 20.
Neither the school nor the district provided any additional details -- including whether any students or staff will need to quarantine.
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The vice president of the Vista Teacher's Association said 96 students and seven teachers at Roosevelt have to be quarantined, but the district has not announced anything yet. Confirmation of that case has only been announced via a case-total table on the district's website.
Mission Vista High School's was notified of its second case on Sunday and assured families it was safe for classes to resume on Monday.
The student tested positive and likely contracted the virus while traveling with an athletic team not affiliated with the school, the district said.
VUSD said the student attended classes Monday through Thursday. They were notified of the positive result on Sunday and immediately contacted San Diego County public health officials to begin an investigation, VUSD officials said.
At least 150 students and four administrators were notified they would need to quarantine for 14 days because they may have come into close contact with the infected student.
"I understand that news of a second positive case may be concerning to some of our Classic families; however, the number of incidences at MVHS remains below CDHP's threshold of 5% positive cases prior to school closures," Interim Principal Jeremy Walden said in an email to families.
According to the district, the second case is unrelated to the first case, which was confirmed last week just days after the campus reopened. Another 134 students and staff members were told to quarantine for 14 days due to that potential exposure.
The district has not annoucned plans to close the high school campus.
Classes with students who are asked to quarantine will be turned into distance learning classes, according to VUSD.
The district said in an email that all students and staff should "consider ourselves as being potentially exposed" and asked guardians to be on the lookout for symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of break, sore throat, muscle aches and loss of smell or taste.
VUSD made the decision to implement a 14-day quarantine in accordance with the COVID-19 Decision Tree, district officials said. The decision tree keeps track of any student or staff member in any of the following three categories:
- Students or staff members experiencing symptoms
- Students or staff members who have had close contact with a person confirmed to have COVID-19 positive students
- Staff members who are COVID-19 positive
According to the district's plan posted on its website, there is enhanced sanitation, additional handwashing stations, specific entrances and exits, and students and staff are required to wear masks.
To view more information about VUSD's health and safety page, click here.
