Dolores Elementary School students are required to wear masks indoors, after 17 students tested positive for COVID-19, effectively bringing the school to “Orange Status” on the district’s tiered coronavirus protocol rubric, Superintendent Reece Blincoe said.

The district’s five-level “Infectious Disease Safety Protocols” breaks down health procedures by number of cases in the district.

Blincoe said schools are more uncertain now about the true number of districtwide COVID cases compared with fall.

“We had numbers we could bank on, and we don’t anymore,” Blincoe said.

He attributed the uncertainty to a lack of testing and to positive tests that weren’t relayed to the district. He believes the number of COVID cases in the district is higher than the reported confirmed cases.

Teddy Bear Preschool has two confirmed cases, and the secondary school is teetering between “Yellow Status,” in which no more than 21 students are infected, and “Orange Status,” in which no more 22 students are infected.

Blincoe did not have the exact numbers in front of him late Friday afternoon when speaking with The Journal.

The secondary school remains in “Yellow Status.” All staff are required to wear masks, but they are optional for students.

Teddy Bear Preschool is in “Blue Status.” Masks are recommended, but not required, for staff and students.

On Jan. 14, the district saw 41% of its students absent from school, he said. That figure notably skewed higher at the preschool, where 50% of students were out of class, he said. The mask requirement began Wednesday.

The spike in absences persisted for “a couple of days,” he said.

On an average day, no more than 5% or 6% of students are absent, he said.

Quarantines, confirmed COVID cases and other illnesses account for the absences, he said.

He added that flu and stomach ailments are circulating as well.

“There’s just a lot of stuff going on right now,” he said.

The district’s Wellness Committee – a 12-person panel including principals, three parents, and the school nurse – began meeting more frequently with the uptick in COVID cases, he said.

Next week, the committee will likely meet every day, he said.

Next year, the panel will likely see the addition of parents and teachers, Blincoe said.