SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Sacramento County Office of Public Health approved school waivers for Sacramento Country Day School, Franklin Park Private School, Sacramento Waldorf School and Sacramento County elementary schools under the Sacramento Catholic Diocese.
Sacramento County started to allow schools to apply for waivers in the last week of August. A total of 18 schools have been allowed to reopen in the waiver process. Schools get to decide when they reopen. The only schools with a confirmed reopening date so far are:
- St. Mel School, St. Patrick Academy and St. Philomene School on Sept. 14
- Sacramento Country Day School on Tuesday, Sept. 22
- Sacramento Waldorf School on Sept. 28
Sacramento Catholic Diocese's spokesperson Bryan Visitacion said most other schools under the diocese will start next week with in-person learning.
Sacramento County's waiver process suggested that schools develop strategies related to:
- Cleaning protocols for shared school items
- Methods to keep the groups who the children are exposed to small
- A flow for where students and staff enter and exit to minimize exposure to others
- A requirement of face coverings for students and staff
- Health screenings for students and staff
- The availability of soap and hand sanitizers for personal hygiene
- A system of contact tracing for the event of a positive COVID-19 student or staff member
- Space allowed for physically distancing
- Training and education for staff and parents
- A description of how staff or students will be tested for COVID-19 should they be exposed to someone with the virus
- The criteria for when the school would go back to distanced learning should an outbreak occur
- A communication plan to address any HIPPA or FERPA concerns
Only elementary schools (TK - 6th grade) are allowed to apply for waivers with the county. After the county received the waiver, county staff consulted with the California Department of Public Health before deciding to approve.