La Costa Heights School closes due to student cases

La Costa Heights Elementary School quickly moved back into distance learning on Dec. 14 due to nine student COVID-19 cases at the school. Students will be in virtual learning for the last few days of school before winter break—the Encinitas Union School District plans to reopen the school to in-person instruction following the break on Jan. 4, according to Superintendent Andrée Grey in a message to families.

With the closure, the district is following its Safe Reopening Plan which is aligned to the Center for Disease Control guidance that suggests a school must close when there are multiple cases in multiple cohorts. Grey said in this situation, there have been at least two cases in two cohorts in the school which necessitated the closure.

The district has been in communication with all individuals who need to quarantine and the campus will be cleaned and sanitized during the break.

Currently the district has 24 active student cases (equating to .53% of the student population) and four staff cases. According to the district’s dashboard, there are two active cases at Capri Elementary, one at Mission Estancia, six at Ocean Knoll, three at Olivenhain Pioneer, four at Park Dale Lane and three at Paul Ecke Elementary.