Sonoma County schools cite high vaccination rates, ready testing options as deadline passes

As Sonoma County reached its deadline for school employees, volunteers and contractors to present proof of vaccination, data from Sonoma County’s largest school districts suggest that the vast majority of workers have opted to vaccinate rather than test weekly for the year.

"I am not aware that there’s a huge level of anxiety or any kind of emotion around (the deadline),“ said Anna Trunnell, superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools. ”I think people are moving forward with business as usual. They’ve either stated to us their status or are waiting for direction on testing.“

As of Wednesday, 82.3% of Santa Rosa City Schools staff — including teachers, administrators, classified staff and substitute teachers — had submitted proof that they were fully vaccinated. Among the 1,815 people counted, 24 were partially vaccinated, 41 were unvaccinated and 31 had declined to state their status.

Another 225 staff members — 12.4% — had simply not responded, however.

Steve Mizera, executive director for special education, said he expects more people to respond to the district’s request for information once they start getting reminders from human resources to get tested next week.

“We really don’t think those numbers (represent) that many people who are unvaccinated or refusing to say,” Mizera said.

With the onset of the deadline Friday, Sonoma County schools will now move into a rhythm of regular testing for staff, volunteers and contractors who have not proven they are fully vaccinated.

Administrators in several districts said they concentrated on building up their testing resources and offerings in the weeks before the deadline, both to get staff in the habit and to ensure that the required tests are accessible.

“We wanted it to be convenient for staff and available at every school in the district,” said Mayra Perez, superintendent of the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District.

Julian Rivera, pandemic response coordinator for the Windsor Unified School District, said “a good number” of the district’s staff have already incorporated testing into their weekly schedule.

“I start my week with a COVID test so I am sure I don’t have COVID,” he said. "Others, they are doing it on Fridays before they go for their weekend.”

Windsor has one of the most robust testing programs among school districts in Sonoma County — beyond students, staff and their family members, school-based testing sites also are available to staff from the city of Windsor, Rivera said.

The district has been able to provide as many at 600 tests per week in large part because of its partnership with the Pandemic Solutions Group, created in May 2020, by The Rockefeller Foundation.

District leaders wanted to serve a broader swath of the community in part because a clinic that used to provide testing in Windsor shut down in August, Rivera said.

“As we went along and saw the need for this school year, (Superintendent Jeremy Decker) not only hired more people but he is providing resources so we can get the staffing that we need,” Rivera said.

The result, he added, is that “schools and school administrators can concentrate on what their job is, which is to teach and support learning and the success of our students.”

As of Thursday, Windsor’s percentage of vaccinated staff, volunteers and contractors was at 64%. It, too, had a large portion of people who had not yet attested to their status: nearly 35%, according to a district spokeswoman.

“We think we’ll end up with our vaccinated number around 75% to 80%, when all is said and done,” said Heather Bailey, communications coordinator, in a text message.

School districts’ ability to provide easily accessible tests depends largely on the resources and reach of the vendor they partner with. Even before the new weekly testing requirements kick in, demand has been high, most district leaders said.

“We get so many asks,” said Tracy Smith, superintendent of Rincon Valley Union School District. “Preschoolers, grandparents, people who are really having trouble accessing testing.”

Her district, in which 95% of staff are vaccinated, is exploring a partnership with a company called Grapefruit, she said, in the hope of being able to offer pop-up testing sites, including on the weekend.

Companies that are on the state’s registered list of COVID test vendors will automatically report results of the COVID tests they process to Sonoma County Public Health, said Steve Herrington, Sonoma County superintendent of schools.

“The employee has the responsibility of providing their employer with their weekly results,” Herrington said.

Mizera said Santa Rosa’s digital system will show him and the district’s human resources team whether each employee who is required to test is getting it done each week.

“I think we’ve got everything set up and the staff we’ve hired to get through this,” Mizera said. “Logistically, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be a big lift.”

Kathryn Howell, president of the Santa Rosa Teachers Association, said she thinks the district is providing enough options to avoid making testing “too arduous on the staff.”

Most districts are relying on PCR tests at this point, as a huge backlog has reduced the availability of the rapid antigen tests. Students and teachers are still often dealing with delays to make appointments and receive results, which can then delay their return to campuses if they are in quarantine.

"Kids are missing school because they don’t have access,“ Howell said. ”They’re waiting for 3 or 4 days for an appointment.“

Mizera said Santa Rosa plans to roll out rapid testing for symptomatic students and staff in the coming weeks.

In Cotati-Rohnert Park, Perez said her district also is pursuing additional access to rapid tests.

For now, Technology Middle School is offering drive-thru rapid tests to symptomatic students; the tests are available between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

That such a high percentage of staff in Sonoma County schools are vaccinated helps cut down on the burden on human resources staff, who are mostly responsible for following up with unvaccinated staff about their tests.

The percentage of eligible students who are vaccinated also continues to rise. Herrington said the Sonoma County Office of Education had aimed to see 70% of 12- to 17-year-olds partially or fully vaccinated by the end of August.

“We may be two weeks late, but we hit it,” he said. “I’m very pleased about that.”

Some administrators also pointed to their hope that a COVID vaccine will soon be available for younger students, pending emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

“We’re excited that vaccines will be available for most of our students very soon,” Smith said.

“That’s the next thing we’re talking about,” Herrington said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.