Los Gatos High reports 60 COVID cases, sends 2,000 exposure notices

At least 60 students at Los Gatos High School have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two weeks, the school announced Tuesday.

The positive cases increased after students returned home from spring break, and principal Kevin Buchanan said the school is not considering the surge in cases an outbreak.

“So, it’s not really an outbreak. No one here said it’s an outbreak,” Buchanan said in an interview. “The message that went home was we have seen an increase since coming back from spring break, and this is not the time of year we want to see numbers trending in this direction, because there’s a lot at stake with all the remaining activities we have left in the year.”

The school sent out more than 2,000 exposure notices this week, reaching almost the entire student body. In a letter Tuesday to LGHS families and staff, Buchanan wrote that 50 of the students who tested positive for COVID-19 were potentially infectious on campus. Of the reported cases, just 10% were discovered through the school’s weekly testing system.

The school is encouraging students to keep getting tested weekly and are strongly encouraging students and staff to wear face masks. Students are required to fill out a screening questionnaire before class on their phones to report if they are feeling any symptoms.

This news comes ahead of a full agenda of senior activities, concerts and junior prom, which was moved outdoors. The school is holding its Advanced Placement exams over the next two weeks, as well as final exams.

“If students miss AP exams for illness, late exams will need to be scheduled with the College Board, which could conflict with other activities,” Buchanan wrote.

Other Bay Area campuses have had recent COVID-19 outbreaks. San Mateo High School had an outbreak after its prom last month, when nearly 100 students tested positive. The outbreak moved the district to switch to daily testing.