Yuba City School Closes Due To 'Escalating' Number Of COVID-19 Cases

YUBA CITY (CBS13) -- An elementary school within the Yuba City Unified School District is temporarily closed for five days due to an increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases.

Butte Vista Elementary will be closed from January 14-18 due to 44 positive COVID cases, according to a Sutter County spokesperson.

The Yuba City Unified School District sent Butte Vista families a message on Wednesday night to notify them of the closure that would start Friday.

In an email to CBS13 Thursday, YCUSD Superintendent Doreen Osumi explained that the decision to keep school open, and then begin the closure, allowed families to make arrangements.

Osumi wrote to CBS13:

"The District made the decision to temporarily close Butte Vista on Friday to allow parents to make any necessary arrangements before the closure."

The decision to close Butte Vista came two days after Sutter County reported 260 COVID cases in a single day.

"My kids too have definitely felt the impact of having the schools closed," said Anthony Alvarez, a father of two students at Butte Vista.

Alvarez kept his 3rd grader and Kindergartner home from school Thursday after he was notified the school would be closed Friday, just to be safe.

"This is just out of the blue, shocking, finding out in the newspaper that morning, his parents are very upset. For safety, we'll do what we have to do," said Wendy Graham, a grandparent of a Butte Vista Kindergartner.

Osumi further explained the decision to close the school temporarily in an email to CBS13:

"The District in consultation with the Health Officer determined that the number of positive cases at Butte Vista was escalating not stabilizing or improving.  Therefore, a temporary closure was appropriate.  Additionally, we discussed the need for staff/student testing prior to resuming school and ideal times for testing."

According to YCUSD, Information on COVID testing will be provided to families with students enrolled at Butte Vista before school resumes January 19th.