Sacramento, CA - Sacramento City Unified will shift from requiring masking to strongly recommending masking, starting Monday, April 18. This shift in policy follows the Center for Disease Control report that Sacramento County maintained a low transmission level of COVID-19 for four consecutive weeks. At a Special Meeting of the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) Board of Education on March 8, the Board adopted a policy to use the metric of four consecutive weeks of low transmission as a trigger to shift the district’s masking requirement to align with the State of California’s policy of strongly recommending masking in school settings. 

SCUSD schools will be closed for spring break from Monday April 11 through Friday, April 15. The shift to strongly recommending masking on school campuses will take effect starting on Monday, April 18 following spring break.

In preparation for students returning to schools following spring break under this new masking policy, a communication to families was sent about free COVID-19 take-home test kits that will be distributed to students on Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8. The strategy of testing for COVID at home before students return from a holiday break helped prevent more than 500 COVID-19 positive students and staff from returning to school following the winter break at the height of the Omicron wave of the pandemic.

This Board action to create this metric was taken after the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued new masking guidelines for schools. The new state guidance, which took effect March 12, 2022, shifted from requiring masks in all school settings to strongly recommending use of masks at schools. The state guidance does not supersede individual  districts’ authority or responsibility to implement masking rules based on local public health data.

The SCUSD masking policy stated:

• When Sacramento County falls to the “low community level” per Center for Disease Control (CDC) category, and remains there for four consecutive weeks, SCUSD will align with the CDPH guidance to strongly recommend masking, but not require masks to be worn in school settings. Until that category is met, SCUSD’s mask requirement remains in effect for all staff, students and visitors.
• A return to the “high” community COVID level per CDC metrics would trigger a required return to indoor masking. SCUSD would also consider resuming the masking requirement if Sacramento County entered “medium” community level depending on global/national/local trends.
• SCUSD’s masking requirement would also resume if state or local public health officials issue a future order for school masking.

Other COVID mitigation measures detailed in the district’s Return to Health plan will remain in effect throughout the school year, including:

• Making COVID testing available at all school sites and three central locations so that anyone with symptoms, or anyone exposed to someone who tests positive can get tested, and ongoing surveillance testing will continue;
• Distributing At-Home COVID tests before Spring Break, so students and staff can test before returning to school, with surveillance testing resuming as soon as we return;
• Making masks widely available in school and district spaces;
• Following “stay home when sick” and “return to school” protocols based on recommendations from health experts;
• Hosting vaccination and booster clinics to increase vaccination rates throughout the community;
• Enhanced ventilation in classrooms and other school facilities.

“Sacramento City Unified will continue to purchase and provide masks so that we can continue to support those who choose to continue masking,” said Jorge A. Aguilar, Superintendent, Sacramento City Unified School District. “Our district has supplied our students and staff with take home COVID-19 testing kits so that they can return from their spring break safely when this new policy is implemented.”

“Our district has maintained some of the strongest mitigation policies in the region, provided access to the highest filtration masks during the Omicron wave, and conducted numerous vaccination clinics throughout our community,” said Christina Pritchett, Board President, Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education. “Our strict adherence to the health and safety recommendations of experts have allowed Sacramento City Unified to make this change in the most responsible way possible for our staff and student families.”

SCUSD is taking proactive steps to provide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) support for our school community through these transitions, including expanding student support staff, school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists and school nurses.

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