RICHMOND, Calif. (KRON) – Starting next week, staff members at the West Contra Costa Unified School District will be required to wear a medical-grade KN-95 mask while at work.
This requirement is one of the steps that the district is taking in order to keep the students and staff safe.
Staff members will be required to wear these masks starting Monday, Jan. 10. District officials say the masks will arrive this week in order to be distributed by Monday.
“Everyone on our school sites deserve to feel safe and informed about COVID-19 and we are always prepared to adapt our safety measures when the conditions change,” Superintendent Kenneth Chris Hurst, Ed.D said. “The spike in cases because of the omicron variant requires us to take further action to protect our staff members and school communities.”
The district ordered enough masks for all employees — There are about 3,000 classified and certified employees.
The district announced this requirement after about 15,000 COVID-19 test kits were distributed to families on Sunday in order for students to be tested before coming back to school.
In addition, three testing sites were opened by the district for students and staff.