SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — On Monday, a high school in Chula Vista sent an email to parents letting them know that multiple people on campus tested positive for COVID-19. However, the school didn’t have to inform them.
According to current state regulations, only parents of students in close contact with the infected student (within 6-feet for more than 15 minutes) must be notified.
“There's no community notification required, so it really is up to the school to determine strategically what makes sense in terms of communication,” said Bob Mueller with San Diego County Office of Education.
Mueller says the state is continually updating its policies, but one thing remains the same - the identity of those testing positive will never be revealed.
“Privacy rights are a big deal. California law requires that student information be kept private.”
But for parents, that can be frustrating. They're relying solely on the school to do the contact tracing and some are worried close contacts are being missed. Others believe the information is being released too slowly.
Administrators don't agree, arguing schools are doing a great job under the circumstances.
“There are almost half a million kids in school in the county and in any given week there are about 300 positive cases on school campuses, so it's a pretty small number,” Mueller said.
County leaders say they’ve seen a recent increase in COVID cases among students ages 6-11, but the rate among older students has been holding steady. Especially as more of them get vaccinated.
Regardless of vaccination status, the state currently requires all students to wear masks indoors, and school officials say even if younger students can get vaccinated, it doesn't appear that will be changing anytime soon.
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