California schools brace for a coronavirus disruption
Early reports indicate children infected by the coronavirus experience a milder response than older adults. But as it arrives in Northern California, school and college officials are preparing for a growing likelihood that the highly contagious virus will disrupt learning and spark panic in young people and their naturally protective caretakers.
As dorms are being disinfected and exposed students are forced into quarantine, administrators are considering adding more cleaning staff while eyeing remote learning and independent study options to keep everyone from kindergartners to college seniors from veering off their academic schedules.
Already, community colleges have been asked to review emergency plans, and the California State University system is looking at repurposing its online learning system — built so students could take classes at sister campuses — in order to keep lessons going.
In Solano County northeast of San Francisco, where the nation's first community spread was detected, K-12 public schools are offering parents the option of having their children learn from home through independent study. Other school districts, such as Sacramento, are dispatching nurses to give hand washing lessons and demonstrate the right way to cover a cough or sneeze. Students who get sick will get extra time to complete assignments.
All these precautions come with some encouraging news for youth: A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association identified nine infants with the virus in Wuhan, China, who were hospitalized and none experienced severe complications beyond fevers and coughs. Still, federal health officials are warning — and past experiences show — California can expect more students to stay home in the event of a widespread transmission of the coronavirus.
Independent study offered to students
California, with its volume of travelers crisscrossing the Pacific, was an early state to be hit by the virus. Now, new infections are being reported by the day. Solano County was the nation's first case of community spread, meaning a person was infected without traveling internationally or being in close contact with anyone known to have it. A second case was reported late Friday in Santa Clara County.
The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, Solano County's largest district, received a flood of messages from concerned parents following reports that a county resident had contracted the virus, said Tim Goree, the district's executive director of administrative services.
Goree said school employees have been vigilant about disinfecting surfaces, and that the district may hire more cleaners.
Fairfield-Suisun is no stranger to temporary school closures, having closed during the 2017 wine country wildfires. But there's a distinction between shutting down due to poor air quality versus the invisible threat of an infectious disease.
'We haven't been given any kind of chart or anything that says, 'when you have this amount of exposure, here's what you do,'' Goree said.
The district, which issues Chromebooks to students, has offered concerned parents the option to enroll them in short-term independent study. It's not known yet if any families are doing so.
Goree said independent study is more challenging for both teachers and students because it means students are not learning in a structured setting.
'What we tell people is, if you have the means to keep your kid home and you feel like your kid's not safe, then keep them home,' Goree said. 'But we're going to keep schools open as long as we think schools are a safer place for some of our kids than being at home by themselves.'
Asking colleges to be ready to go online
California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley has asked campuses to prepare contingency plans in the event of a shutdown. Some colleges could start delivering classes online in the event of a closure, said spokesman Paul Feist.
'They're taking precautions and staying vigilant — no one's panicking or anything like that,' said Feist. 'The threat, as it is right now, is low, but we need to prepare in the event that that changes.'
So far, three students at Sacramento-area community colleges have been exposed to a patient believed to be carrying the coronavirus, the Los Rios Community College District reported.
The students were believed to have been exposed while working off-campus as medical professionals. In two cases, at American River College and Cosumnes River College, the students returned to campus after being exposed; the third student, at Sacramento City College, did not. County health officials have asked the students to isolate themselves for 14 days but did not recommend closing the campuses.
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