Sacramento, CA – Sacramento City Unified School District announced today that no positive cases were discovered as part of its rapid response team deployment to test students and staff at New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School. The tests were provided after the charter school identified 23 cases, spurring the testing requirement by Sacramento County Public Health on September 2. Separately from the required testing, the district did identify one additional case as a result of a pending PCR test from the previous day, bringing the total case count to 24.

By starting testing using a rapid response strategy the district was able to quickly isolate positive cases. Now that a baseline has been established through rapid testing results, SCPH informed the district that it is requiring that the district continue to test students and staff weekly over the next three weeks. As the district is already providing testing at each school site, it is able to accommodate this requirement ​by using PCR testing which provides results in approximately 24 to 48 hours to continue safely providing students with uninterrupted in-person learning.

Both orders come as a result of SCPH’s confidence in the district’s robust testing program and strong health and safety plan.

Yesterday afternoon, the district also met with the SCPH, and Sacramento County Office of Education on next steps to protect not only the New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School, but the community surrounding the school site as well. As noted by SCPH, “given that this is a relatively small, tight-knit community, and that the region as a whole has high community case counts and transmission, it appears more likely that transmission is occurring outside of the school campus.”

As part of its health and safety plan, Sac City Unified is putting testing front and center with an aggressive plan to provide testing at all 75 school sites and the Serna Center each weekday. By providing this resource, the district hopes to identify cases and proven transmission of COVID-19 on district campuses. While the district opened most of its 75 sites for the first day of school on September 2, New Joseph Bonnheim has been in session and on campus since August 9, 2021.

The district also continues its efforts to provide access to and promote COVID-19 vaccination. The district has provided more than 22,500 doses of the vaccine since February. The district has worked with community partners, including Dignity Health, to provide access for communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

A copy of the September 3 letter ordering mandated routine testing at this site may be found here.