Richvale Elementary School

September 3, 2021

Dear Parents and Community members

As the Superintendent of Biggs Unified School District, I’m writing to inform you that the District is being forced to change our stance on mask wearing inside classrooms and other buildings. The District had opened the school year allowing parents, students and staff to make the decision on mask wearing.

The Governing Board would prefer to continue with allowing all to make their own choice.

However, with that being said, the District has received three formal complaints from the Department of Industrial Relation, Division of Occupational Safety and Heath alleging we are not following safety orders found in Title 8 of California Code Regulation.

Second, we have been informed by our property and liability insurance company that they will not provide coverage for any claim related to COVID 19 if the District is not following the heath order. The district has also received a memo from our legal team stating the liability the District could face.

This is not the stance our Governing Board would like to take, but with the above State mandate our hands are being forced. I also encourage you to contact local and state representatives in Sacramento to express your feelings on this matter.

Effective Tuesday, September 7, 2021 students and staff will be required to wear a face mask or face shield while indoors. They are not required to wear a mask or face covering at any time while outside of a building. Below are the California Department of Public Health Mask Mandates:

Mask are optional outdoors for all K-12 school settings.
K-12 students are required to mask indoors, with exemptions per CDPH face mask guidance.
Adults in K-12 school settings are required to mask when sharing indoor spaces with students.
Persons exempted from wearing a face covering due to medical condition, must wear a face shield with drape on the bottom edge, as long as their condition permits it.
Face covering requirements are mandated for all school buses and any vehicle affiliated with the district used to transport students, staff, or teachers to and or form school site or school-related activity.
All administrators, teachers, and classified staff must return to wearing a face covering in accordance with third point above when sharing indoor spaces with students.

Again the Board of Trustees and myself are doing all we can to keep our school safe and open to in-person learning.

Yours in Education

Doug Kaelin, Superintendent

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