Health & Safety Update

On Monday, February 28th, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a joint press release along with the Washington and Oregon Governors that sunsets the requirement for mask-wearing at schools. The Governor announced that indoor masking in schools will move from a requirement to a strong recommendation starting after Friday, March 11, 2022.

In Union School District, we will continue to follow the guidance from state and local public health officials, and we will transition from a mask requirement to a recommendation as it relates to indoor mask-wearing in schools starting on Monday, March 14, 2022.

The Santa Clara County Public Health Department also confirmed today that it is in alignment with the recommendations put forth by the state. When any new information is released by state and local health departments as it relates to K-12 school guidance/requirements, we will let you know.

As always, we will continue to encourage vaccinations within our community as our health experts indicate that is the best strategy for mitigating the effects of COVID-19. It is reassuring to know that our county boasts a 90.3% vaccination rate of those aged 5 and over, with our own workforce having a 98% vaccination rate. We will continue to provide resources to families as to locations as to where to get vaccinations if not already done so and you can visit https://vax.sccgov.org/ for more information.

In taking a look back in time, it is hard to believe that just two years ago, March 13, 2020, we were told to close schools for a couple of weeks to address where we went completely online due to the impacts of COVID-19. Back to the present date, we are transitioning from a pandemic approach to an endemic approach, meaning we will learn to manage COVID-19, rather than attempt to eradicate it.

We are asking for continued community support to help us get through what we hope will be the final stage of learning how to live alongside COVID-19. As we have done from the beginning, we will continue to adhere to the direction of the state/local health departments.

In Union School District Schools:

• Starting on Monday, March 14, 2022, USD students and staff are recommended but not required to wear a mask indoors or outdoors at school. This will be an individual decision, and we will all be respectful of each other regardless of an individual’s masking decision.
  
  

• Union School District will continue to follow protocols and state guidance around quarantine, isolation, symptom monitoring, and hygienic practices.
  
  

• Our weekly, optional, on-campus testing will continue. If you would like to opt into weekly testing at school, you may sign up your student here.

Thank you for your continued partnership and commitment to our schools, students, staff and greater community as we transition through this next phase together.