Santa Maria-Bonita Unified held school board meeting to provide COVID update

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – The Santa Maria Bonita Unified School Board held a meeting where administrators provided a COVID-19 update.

The school board said COVID is a topic that was needed to be talked about, as numbers are soaring. 

One of the solutions is right now, the district is in the process of setting up a vaccine site at Liberty Elementary School.

A COVID update was provided at tonight’s school board meeting by Santa Maria Bonita Unified interim superintendent, Matthew Beecher. 

“My hope is that what we are seeing here is our community's attention to their health and their attention to the health orders that help us limit transmission,” said Beecher

Topics include how COVID-19 is doing on a county level, and where the district stands with independent studies and attendance numbers.  

“So while it is lower than our experience, we're a school district with really strong school attention,” asid Beecher. “It is not impacted currently by that surge."

The discussion mentioned how many people are sick as well as what they are doing next, and more.

 “85% of our staff is in attendance,” said Beecher. “They may climb as each day gets closer.”

Students returned to school Tuesday.

The district said  remote learning is not being considered, but will continue to practice safety protocols as best as possible.

"If your students are experiencing symptoms, please make sure they stay home and consider pursuing testing," said Beecher.

Currently, there are free testing sites available to students, staff and the community at numerous campuses.

Students and staff will be the priority at these sites.

Since September of 2021, over 22,000 tests have been provided to the community.