Dear St. Francis Families,

We are a few days away from the start of the 2021-2022 school year, and we can’t wait to welcome our Troubies back to our beautiful campus. St. Francis Catholic High School continues to be proactive in keeping our students safe, our families informed and our campus open as we continue to deal with the fallout of the pandemic and new Delta variant. Our school leadership continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely, and we are following the advice and recommendations of the Diocese, California Department of Public Health, and the California Department of Public Health.

The health and safety of our Troubies continues to be our first priority. We will remain cognizant of that while we continue to educate our students in the safest and most effective ways possible. With that said, we will resume full in-person instruction without physical distancing requirements or cohort scheduling.  

Our new Superintendent, Katie Perata, shared a memorandum with all Catholic school administrators today, outlining our Diocese decision to provide full-time in-person instruction for every student in the Diocese, while following the prescribed guidelines from the state and local health agencies.

As noted in the memorandum, CDPH and County health officials have confirmed that all public/private schools must comply with the guidance for schools included in the State Public Health Officer Order of June 11, 2021.

The State of California and respective county health departments have issued the following requirements:

• All K-12 students are required to wear a mask indoors.
• Adults in K-12 school settings are required to wear a mask when sharing indoor spaces with students.
• Masks will be optional outdoors for all in K-12 school settings.
• Consistent with guidance from the 2020-21 school year, schools must develop and implement local protocols to enforce the mask requirements.

CDPH/county health departments have not given school districts nor private schools the discretion to make face coverings optional, or to create their own standard for enforcement. We are required to enforce this mandate, as we would with any law, regulation, or policy. 

For the time being, we will continue to monitor current COVID infection trends and follow the guidelines as outlined by the state/ county health professionals. If the guidelines are amended in the coming weeks/months, I will keep you apprised as more information becomes available. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly or our Dean of Students, Cynthia Cost at ccost@stfrancishs.org.

In the spirit of Pax et Bonum (peace and goodness),

Elias Mendoza,
Principal