State Requires Vaccination or Weekly Testing for School Employees
Dear Parents/Guardians:
As you may have heard, Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that California will require that public schools verify its workers are fully vaccinated or tested regularly. Unvaccinated workers will be required to take weekly COVID-19 tests and will be required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, including face coverings.
The new state requirement for school employees took effect on August 12, 2021 and applies to public and private schools serving students in transitional kindergarten through grade 12. School districts, charter schools, and county offices of education will have until October 15, 2021, to come into full compliance.
The order is part of the state’s multi-layered efforts to protect Californians from the Delta variant of COVID-19. Vaccination status can have an impact on if, and how long, employees are required to quarantine after an exposure to COVID-19. There is no exemption from COVID-19 testing if the staff member is unvaccinated. Our Human Resources team is working with our bargaining groups to determine how to work through the logistics challenges in documenting vaccination status, as well as implementing the additional testing demands that this will place upon our operations. Feel free to view these Frequently Asked Questions re employee vaccination and testing.
Already, our District has been operating one of the busiest COVID-19 testing centers in San Diego County as a service to our students and staff while we waited for the county’s sites to ramp up again. Testing, tracing and isolating are a critical component in limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus. Such robust testing is the right thing to do—families want to know if their child is COVID-free and so do our staff members. When students or staff members test positive, the school and district work together to determine close contacts and quarantine those close contacts.
COVID-19 tests are only one part of a broader safety plan. Vaccinations, social distancing, ventilation, regular cleaning, contact tracing and masking are also important ways to stop the spread of COVID-19. Our staff members have a shared interest in maintaining a safe learning environment for all, and I want to thank each member of our CVESD team for their support and flexibility as we adapt to the new requirements.
Kind regards,
Francisco Escobedo, Ed.D.
Superintendent
COVID-19 Testing Available at County Facilities and District Office
When the need arises, our District highly recommends students and staff take a PCR test at a free County facility, at a medical provider, or at our District Office (Education Services and Support Center). Remember, free testing for the whole family is available at several locations across San Diego County. Click here to view a complete listing of no-cost testing options.
Testing at our District is for students and staff only. No family members are able to test, at this time. If you are unable to get a COVID-19 test from your healthcare provider or the county, as mentioned, a third option is our District office, located at 84 East J Street, Chula Vista. The District office site is offered as a public service to our students and staff. Hours are from M-TH 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. New Friday hours: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointments are necessary. Walk-ins are welcome UNTIL daily capacity is reached; we will stop accepting walk-ups at 3:40 p.m. M-F, so please arrive by 3:30 p.m.