Community Engagement

I sincerely hope this letter finds you healthy and enjoying the warm sunshine. Schools are in the midst of Kindness Week that featured fun activities at our all our TK-3 campuses. Congresswoman Jackie Spier invited students across the county to write messages to veterans in VA facilities and at Arundel Elementary, the Knights wrote Valentine letters to Vets and other local heroes.

This week has brought significantly better news on the Omicron front, especially in light of the unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 cases in our schools, childcare centers, and communities in January. As we anticipate the lifting of the indoor mask mandate for the general public by Governor Newsom, I can also confirm that many of our schools and early learning spaces continue to be impacted
daily by positive cases. As the State moves into its “endemic strategy,” for the general public, I urge patience from our San Mateo County community. Our school leaders and education workforce need YOUR help in making quality teaching and learning the top priority.

January 2022 may go down on record as one of the most challenging months during the most challenging two years, but we made it through. Hello February! We start this new month with case rates on the decline in schools, in the county, and across the region.

With week after week and month after month of COVID-19, it’s been hard to get excited about a light at the end of the tunnel, especially when our experience has often presented just another tunnel rather than the much sought after light. But, from my read of the data this week, we might be seeing the glimmer of actual light at the end of the Omicron-fueled surge of COVID-19.

After a bumpy couple of weeks for San Mateo County schools, I would like to say we are beginning to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re definitely not quite there just yet. Cases of COVID-19 in schools and childcare settings remain high, continuing to strain our resources and our resilience. Click on the title link to read the full message.