Dear NUSD Community,

School starts in one week and we are so excited to welcome students back to school!  It’s been two years since students came to school on the first day of school and we’re so looking forward to it.

Keeping our students and staff safe is a top priority for us. We are working closely with Marin Public Health and the Marin County Office of Education to follow all protocols and stay on top of the latest guidance and how it affects our schools.  This year we’re taking a team approach with representatives from our schools and staff and have initiated a Covid Team. We’ve already met a few times to address common questions, review best practices, and review the latest Covid guidance from Marin Public Health and the Marin Office of Education.  The Team members include:

Jan Derby, Interim Superintendent

Jennifer Larson, Assistant Superintendent, Education Services

Leslie Benjamin, Director of Communications

Mariah Fisher, Teacher, representing Teaching Staff

Jennifer Albini, Human Resources, representing Classified Staff

Mark Brewer, Novato High Principal

Mike Casper, San Jose Principal

Amanda Langford, San Ramon Principal

TBD, School Nurse

Since last week’s August 4 Covid Update (you can find it here), we received several questions we’d like to clarify and also provide a few updates.

  • Link to August 4, 2021 Marin County School Guidelines. This was presented to school administrators last week.
  • Link to the most recent protocols.
  • Masks are required indoors and outdoors. #24 of the Guidelines
  • Weekly testing for unvaccinated individuals is required for NUSD staff. Weekly testing of unvaccinated students is not required.  #30 of the Guidelines.
  • Positive cases. Right now with the Delta Variant, we unfortunately expect to see positive Covid cases.  The overall message is for your child to stay home if they’re not feeling well.  #7 of the Guidance. We cannot emphasize this enough.  If your child has been a close contact to a Covid positive individual, you will be notified.
  • NUSD will not be practicing modified quarantine. Marin Public Health has defined modified quarantine as allowing Covid positive students to attend school, fully masked, and no other activities.
  • Air filters: MERV 8 Filters are replaced every 6 months and will be replaced at the end of November/beginning of December.  MERV 13 filters are replaced every 4 months and will be replaced in mid-October.
  • NUSD will continue the Covid Dashboard this year with weekly updates of positive cases by school site.
  • NUSD will also begin posting vaccination rates by school beginning October 1. NUSD values safety along with privacy and vaccination verification is a balance between the two.  #30 of the guidance.
  • Back to School Nights. NUSD will continue to hold Back to School Nights and ask only 1 parent per student attend.  Schools will not be holding the traditional principal/PTA message meeting during Back to School Night.

As a reminder Marin Public Health is holding a Public Health Update for the School Community on August 17, 2021, at 1 pm.  Here are the Zoom Details: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86928801113?pwd=K3VLcVVrRW5vZjB6bG5zSmw1U05wUT09,  Dial In: 408-6380968,  Webinar ID: 869 2880 1113, Passcode: 759024.

We continue to appreciate your support as we navigate Covid, the Delta Variant, and the start of the school year.

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to the principal at your child’s school.

The Covid Team

Jan, Jen L., Leslie, Mariah, Jen A., Mark, Mike, and Amanda