The first day of school Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton looked like any other pre-pandemic year on Wednesday, Aug. 17. It's the first time since 2019 students and staff are starting the school year without indoor face mask mandates.

With a new state mandate in effect to curb teen sleep deprivation, all classes are starting after 8:30 a.m. and there will be no more early morning zero periods this year.

Paige Winikoff, PTA co-president, said she heard M-A parents are struggling with all the requirements, paperwork and their own job duties to get their kids ready to go back to school.

"Parents I speak with are relieved the students are going back to school in person, however there is realistic trepidation about the uptick in COVID cases and concern masking requirements will come back," she said in an email. "Nonetheless people are looking forward to a new school year!"

Although cases in San Mateo County are down from the omicron surge that began in mid-May, according to The New York Times, transmission rates are still high with an average of 203 cases per day, as of Wednesday, Aug. 17. Three M-A staff members have reported COVID-19 cases to the district going into the first week of school, according to the district's COVID-19 dashboard as of Tuesday. No students have reported cases to the district.

The Sequoia Union High School District handed out CareStart rapid COVID-19 tests in the days leading up to the first day of school to help catch cases before instruction began. The district will also continue to work with Worksite Labs to provide PCR tests at each of its campuses this semester, according to a district note to families.