Like many districts, FUSD has been affected by COVID-19 surge | News

Like many school districts, the Fontana Unified School District has been impacted by the COVID-19 Omicron surge at the start of the New Year.

Michael Garcia, a spokesman for the FUSD, said that the Business Services Department and the People Services (Human Resources) Department reported that there was an increase in absences during the week of Jan. 11-14, when school was back in session after the winter break.

Some sporting and special events in the district were canceled or postponed, Garcia said.

The students and district personnel were instructed to stay home if they displayed any cold/flu-like symptoms, in accordance with San Bernardino County Department of Health guidelines.

“Students in FUSD were given a COVID-19 home testing kit and encouraged to take a test if they showed any cold/flu-like symptoms or had been exposed to someone with COVID-19,” Garcia said.

“Parents are also encouraged to take students and family members to one of our COVID Clinic testing sites at the district office, middle, and high schools as needed.”

Appointments for testing can be made at www.covidclinic.org/fusd/.

When a student tests positive for COVID-19, parents are encouraged to contact the teacher or school site to report that they will be out ill and how to receive instruction or learning materials, Garcia said.

“If students or family members are experiencing any challenges and cannot return in person, they can contact our Alternative Education for independent studies options at (909) 357-5000, extension 29077,” he said.

“Filling teacher absences with substitute teachers has been a challenge this school year. People Services has been working hard to recruit, hire, train, and deploy substitute teachers to fill vacancies.”