Dear Coast District Staff,

Following the early summer surge, Orange County and neighboring regions have seen a steady decline in the case rates and intensive-care bed use by COVID-19 patients. Public health authorities have also relaxed guidance related to COVID-19 spread. In light of these positive developments, the following adjustments will be made to the Coast District’s COVID-19 protocols.

Masking (Face Covering): The Coast District will move from requiring masking indoors to strongly recommending masking indoors beginning Friday, August 26. Please be respectful and considerate of individuals who continue masking, as this may be a personal health precaution and/or caretaker situation. Encouraging others to be respectful of individual choices to mask or not mask will also be helpful. Vaccine boosters are strongly encouraged for those eligible. If you need medical accommodation related to COVID-19, please work with your manager and Human Resources to follow the accommodations request process.

Scheduling: Based on the recommendation of the District Consultation Council, departments will open five days per week for on-site support, services, and operations beginning Tuesday, September 6. While some remote work may continue, those deemed by your department to be essential to on-site functions may be required to work on site all five days. It is likely there will be variation between Coastline, Golden West, Orange Coast, and District sites, based on different needs, operations, and staffing availability.

Although the five-day on-site schedule will not go into effect until September 6, we want to give you at least two weeks' notice before adjusting remote-work schedules. Additionally, please be assured that I and the leadership team continue to monitor COVID-19 metrics. If there is another surge, we may need to pause or reverse the actions above. The adjustments above are not intended to be permanent but are another step toward a new normal.

Thank you for your flexibility during these past two years. I appreciate the complexity of hybrid work. It is exciting to be in position where we can again serve students on-site Monday through Friday. This is important to renew the college experience, create normalcy for our students, and support their success.

Be well,
John Weispfenning, Ph.D.
Chancellor