As high school students in the Santa Clarita Valley prepare for the first week of school, members of the cheer teams at Castaic and West Ranch in William S. Hart Union High School District are dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks after attending a cheer camp in July.
The first day of school in the Hart district was Tuesday, Aug. 10. Eight students on the Castaic High cheer team and eight students on the West Ranch cheer team tested positive for COVID-19, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported on Saturday.
The students at Castaic and West Ranch tested positive after attending and competing in a Universal Cheerleaders Association camp in Indian Wells from July 25-28, Hart district public relations officer Dave Caldwell said in an email. He added that the district met with health department field representatives last week and determined the schools in the Hart district were not the site and source of the COVID infections.
When an outbreak occurs on a team or organization at one of the schools in the district, Caldwell said, “All families are notified and advised to COVID test. Contact tracing, in cooperation with the Department of Public Health, occurs and close contacts are advised to quarantine until negative COVID tests or proof of vaccination is provided.”
Students in the district are not allowed to attend school until 10 days after testing positive or 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
The district is doing contact tracing and reporting all positive test cases to the county Department of Public Health. The district also has a COVID coordinator who works with the administrators on all campuses.
The county health department stopped mandating regular COVID testing of athletes, coaches, staff and volunteers participating in indoor sports activities in June. However, the Hart district continued testing athletes over the summer in an abundance of caution, Caldwell said.
Students, except those who were vaccinated, who were participating in indoor sports, were tested. Those students could not opt out of testing for any reason.
Teachers, coaches, parents and other volunteers working with the teams were tested weekly. Free testing was provided at each campus in the district.
The students who tested positive and the students who have been in contact with those students are required to quarantine, according to district policy.
“All students who were close contacts must quarantine, or if they tested positive must isolate, until at least the 10 days have passed and they have been fever free for 24 hours with improved symptoms before resuming school and cheer activities,” Caldwell said. “This policy impacts all activities including practice and events.”
The Hart district is following the county department of health reopening protocols for K-12 schools, which includes specific steps for athletics and sports programs. There are no testing requirements specified for youth sports in the county protocols.
Caldwell said the district will update its procedures accordingly should they change.
Cherise Moore, the president of the Hart school district board, declined a request to comment on the COVID cases at West Ranch and Castaic high schools.
Castaic Principal Melanie Hagman and West Ranch Principal Mark Crawford deferred questions about the COVID cases to Caldwell.