Complaint against Sacramento City Unified alleges unsafe work conditions at school

A complaint filed by Sacramento City Unified teachers Tuesday alleges that the school district didn’t adequately respond to a recent Covid outbreak at New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School, making work conditions unsafe.

The teachers filed the complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The Sacramento County Public Health Department mandated testing on the campus on Sept. 2 after the district-run charter school identified 23 cases of Covid, according to the district. No new cases were found by the county’s rapid response team, but the county is requiring weekly testing for all students and staff at the school for three weeks.

The complaint from the teachers union alleges that the district didn’t conduct adequate contact tracing, did not notify all employees of possible exposure to Covid, encouraged staff at the school to report to work with Covid symptoms and did not require social distancing between students and staff after the outbreak.

“I have four young children all under age 12, two of whom are medically fragile, and I tested positive for Covid even though I was vaccinated,” said Becky Van Nest, a fourth-grade teacher in a statement provided by the union. “I was exposed to a student and a staff member who were positive, but did not receive the proper notice. The physical distancing, the contact tracing, the notice to staff, the notice to families — the entire system broke down. We’ve been totally let down.”

New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School serves 270 students in kindergarten through sixth grade and has 25 people on its staff, including 13 teachers.