New Haven Unified School District: An Important Message From Superintendent Thompson

Press release from the New Haven Unified School District:

January 14, 2022

Dear New Haven Families,

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said,

“In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”

This aspiration has been the guiding light for the work of creating racial equity in our district and elsewhere. Though there has been progress made toward racial equity since these words were spoken, I often wonder what Dr. King would think of our nation’s current climate.

As we enter the three-day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, it is an appropriate time for us to reflect on where we are as a district in regards to our equity work. In New Haven, we still haven’t reached a place where the outcomes for our students of color are the same as they are for other student groups. Regretfully, we also continue to deal with racism. As recently as November, we investigated an incident in which racist graffiti was found at one of our sites directed toward our
African American students. This is not something we take lightly; anyone participating in this type of activity will be subject to disciplinary action to the fullest extent possible.

Incidents like this also reinforce the need to continue the work in our Strategic Plan related to Goal 2: Equity, Access, and Achievement.

We are committed to doing whatever we can to ensure that there are inclusive and equitable conditions for our students of color.

While we are committed to our equity work, we are, of course, also navigating our district through this most recent COVID surge. While conditions continue to change, one thing has not: state officials and public health officers continue to reiterate that schools need to stay open and there
is currently no path for school districts to legally shift to virtual learning. On Thursday, we were told by public health experts that “very few kids at school become positive” and that in-school instruction is “not a greater risk.”

Below are updates related to this most recent COVID surge:

Local Conditions

The first week of January saw the largest number of positive cases we have seen this school year, the most student absences, and the highest number of employee absences. This week, we are seeing fewer positive test cases but we are still experiencing a high number of student and employee absences.

Testing

Not surprisingly, our main testing vendor, National Labs (Logan High School Testing Center and mobile testing), has experienced supply shortages. Though they have still been able to test students and staff each day, multiple times they have had to limit their hours and the number of people who can be tested. They anticipate that they will be fully restocked soon. We have been able to offer testing for students and staff members at our Union City Family Center. We have a limited number of home-testing kits but these are currently reserved for staff members who need this test to return from quarantine and come back into classrooms.

Masking

In a meeting I attended on Thursday with doctors from the Alameda County Public Health Department, we were informed that they are not requiring N95 masks for staff or students. In regards to masks, we were told that school districts should focus on two things: (1) “fit over filtration”; and (2) making sure everyone is wearing masks indoors. They shared that a “high quality 2 to 3 ply” cloth mask that fits properly is effective and can be more effective than an N95-style mask that doesn’t fit properly. Regardless, we have made two different types of CDC-approved N95 masks available to all of our staff members. We are expecting a delivery of N95 masks that we can make available to both students and staff and will provide more information when we learn more about their delivery date.

New Guidance on Contact Tracing, Quarantine, and Isolation

We continue to receive updates on changes in these areas. Public health officials are trying to keep up with the rapidly changing conditions that include high test positivity rates with, in general, relatively mild symptoms. The new guidance will apparently focus on what happens when people are symptomatic. The best document to use to keep track of these changes continues to be the Alameda County Office of Education school guidance document that can be found HERE. This document contains updated flow charts on isolation and quarantine for students and parents.

Guidance regarding testing, quarantining, and isolating is consistently and constantly changing. It is very possible that a family can be told the most current quarantine guidelines in the morning and for that guidance to change by the afternoon. If your family has been given a set of instructions regarding testing, quarantining, and isolating, and you later find a different set of instructions being communicated to the public, please contact your school site for clarification.

Teaching and Learning

While we have had a large number of student absences, approximately 76% of our students are coming to school on a daily basis. Our teachers are doing their best to provide meaningful learning opportunities for our students who are in our classrooms and at home. However, it is definitely not business as usual. Please be patient with our teachers and staff as they try to navigate this challenging period of time.

That’s it for this week. I hope you all have a good three-day weekend."

Sincerely,

John Thompson, Ed.D.
Superintendent

This press release was produced by the New Haven Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.