The Lakeside Union School District voluntarily closed Winter Gardens Elementary School for campus learning for two weeks starting Dec. 4 to safeguard against a community outbreak of COVID-19.
As of Dec. 3, the district had identified 12 positive cases at the school over the previous two weeks but had not met the requirements for mandatory closure.
The campus has a combined total of 308 teachers, staff and students vwho will be participating in distance learning for 15 days.
That two-week period coincides with the start of winter break; in-person instruction will resume after winter break on Jan. 4, 2021.
Students and staff originally returned to campus this year on Sept. 21.
According to district directives, “COVID-19 related school closures may occur when there are multiple cases in multiple cohorts at a school, or when at least 5% of the total number of teachers, students or staff have cases within a 14-day period, depending on the size and physical layout of the school.”
However, although the school was not required to close, Superintendent Andrews Johnsen said San Diego County Department of Public Health Services “recommended the closure and the decision was made to move to distance learning.”
While the campus is closed, cleaning and disinfection will be taking place, followed by a public health investigation and a consultation with the local public health department.
Johnsen also reminded Lakeside families that all high-touch surfaces such as door knobs and light switches are cleaned approximately every hour on every school campus; all desks surfaces and bathrooms are cleaned and disinfected nightly; all district custodians are equipped with a disinfectant which has a one-minute kill-time for coronavirus; electrostatic sprayers are used over the entire room where infected persons traveled if a case is diagnosed.
