So far, It’s been a bumpy start to the school year for many around the Bay Area.
Nearly every district saw COVID-19 cases within days of reopening.
While the numbers have been relatively low, parents are understandably on edge.
On Thursday, Bay Area health officials were reaffirming their support for a return to full in-person classes.
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Parent Emily Beckman heard that the announcement.
“I’m reassured. Most definitely, it did give me pause to go back in person,” she said.
Beckman has two children in elementary school in San Francisco.
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“I think San Francisco been cautious and conservative. I appreciate that. I think we’re in a little bit of a bubble here. I don’t have as much a concern with them being in school. I think with the school district and all of the precautions,” she added.
After a year of distance learning and some high-profile reports of COVID cases now that school has started, some people are wondering if schools need to go back to virtual classrooms.
On Thursday, Bay Area health officials issued a statement acknowledging the concerns but they said children are better off in school as long as schools follow the protocols.
“We can keep kids in school, and we need to take all the safety measures that San Francisco school districts and health departments are taking now,” said San Francisco health officer Dr. Susan Philip.
Philip said that adds a layer of protection along with masking and more.
“We have hand hygiene we have all these additional layers of protection that add up to making school safer,” she said. “We will still have cases we are in a surge but were not seeing the proportion of cases in kids is increases in San Francisco and that’s what we want to keep happening here.”
She adds that while every case is scary in school transmission is still rare.
“We know that being back in the classroom with their teacher with their peers they needed it,” she said.
