Community leaders call on district to implement regular testing at all schools

Dear Friends,

As a follow up to our statement yesterday regarding New Joseph Bonnheim, we write to urge the district to convene a meeting quickly with the county public health officer, SCUSD families and stakeholders to develop a plan for mandatory weekly testing regardless of vaccination status for every student, teacher, and staff member in the district at each school site.

While the district has implemented regular testing at New Joseph Bonnheim in response to the recent outbreak, regular testing at all schools will help prevent future outbreaks.

We understand that there may be capacity challenges in providing regular testing for all students and school personnel.  Including the public health officer will provide essential guidance for how to accomplish this aggressive but necessary step.  We offer our help in any way to help the district achieve that capacity.

Finally, we believe the district should strongly consider mandatory vaccinations for all students over 12 similar to Los Angeles Unified.  

We would be happy to participate with any and all stakeholders who are interested in a comprehensive approach to keep our students, teachers, and staff safe, and to keep all our schools open.

The community stands ready to help.  

Thank you.  

Mayor Darrell Steinberg

Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, (D-07)

Supervisor Phil Serna, District 1

Councilmember Eric Guerra, District 6