News Update

Superintendents in four rural counties call for changes to school Covid rules

Superintendents of school districts in Alpine, Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties are calling on state officials to change Covid rules for schools.

In a letter addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, state legislators and public health officials, the superintendents and the Tuolumne Joint Powers Authority, which administers insurance coverage for districts in the region, said that administrators are spending so much time making sure Covid-19 rules are being followed that they don’t have time to focus on education and support services, according to local newspaper The Union Democrat.

Specifically, the letter asks state officials to “align safety requirements for isolation and quarantining among students and staff; reduce or transfer the responsibility of Covid-19 testing, isolation and quarantine to health care providers, insurance companies, or public health authorities; reduce the complexity and number of reports that school districts must produce; establish criteria allowing school districts to shift safety to an endemic response; and make masking requirements the same across all public sectors,” according to the paper.