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Dear WCCUSD Community,

We are a community that cares for and values the success and well-being of every student. For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed and tested our resolve, and the omicron variant surge is testing our resolve again. Yet, every day I witness and hear about the WCCUSD team living our motto: Whole Child, Whole Community.

Together, we worked through the difficulties that arose with distance learning, and other academic and social-emotional challenges, to find solutions for students. Through the ongoing challenges, we remain committed to working together with our teachers, our staff and our community.

The employees of our school district are amazing and continue to work tirelessly for students and families. There are signs that conditions are improving with the number of positive cases reported in the county down by more than 20 percent. While the decline in positive cases is encouraging news, we must remain vigilant and continue to follow all the COVID-19 protocols to keep everyone safe.

I wanted to take a moment to share with you the work that the hardworking people in our district have done and will continue to do to keep students and staff safe. 

• We report the positive cases of all campuses on the District Dashboard, which is updated every weekday.
• We employ 11 nurses who work with us full time on our contact tracing program with Contra Costa County Health Services.  
• We distributed 15,000 testing kits to families the Sunday before the first day back from winter break, and distributed 13,000 testing kits to schools during the first week back to ensure all students had access to receive a kit.
• For the past few weeks, we have sent central office staff to schools in the district to support vacancies and absences due to the immense strain of the Omicron variant on staff.
• All school HVAC - ventilation systems have been evaluated and assessed.
• We installed MERV-13 in all classrooms that needed improved air circulation.
• We have committed to providing multiple KN95 masks per week for teachers and all other staff members for the remainder of the school year.
• Students are currently provided surgical masks and we have ordered KN95 masks that we will distribute soon.
• We are one of the few school districts in the state to provide weekly testing at each school site for students and staff.
• We opened three additional testing centers across our district to serve all staff and students.
• We have worked in conjunction with community partners, including the Contra Costa County Health Services, to offer several vaccine clinics at our schools. We will continue to work with community partners to host the clinics, and there are three clinics next week. Please click here for more information. 

On our website, you can find our COVID-19 Safety Guide for Students and Families; testing information for staff and students; frequently asked questions; information about our district’s vaccine mandate and our vaccine clinics. 

It will take a community effort to keep students, staff and families safe from this pandemic. This is our priority, and our focus every day.  

Please remember to wear a properly fitting mask, stay home if you are sick or feeling unwell, frequently wash your hands, avoid touching your face, and get vaccinated and boostered if eligible.

Together, we can keep students, staff and families safe from the pandemic, and keep our schools open.

In community,

Dr. Kenneth Chris Hurst
Superintendent