The administration attended a meeting held by the Bates County Health Department this past week. Here we discussed the current situation of the county and what the guidelines for isolation and quarantining will be this school year as of this week. This is lengthy but please take the time to read it and ask me questions if you have them.
Close contact will be determined by the following guidelines:
For a student within 6 feet of an individual who tests positive without the use of masks:
- If the contact exceeds 15 minutes within a 24-hour time period, the student will be deemed a close contact.
For a student 3-6 feet of an individual who tests positive with the
use of consistent mask wearing by BOTH individuals:
- Student will be monitored for symptoms but will not be deemed a close contact.
In both the scenarios above, the teacher is still considered a close contact unless they have been fully vaccinated.
If an individual is deemed a close contact, the following guidelines will be followed for quarantining:
For non-vaccinated individuals:
For a COVID positive individual
- 10-day isolation from onset of symptoms or positive COVID test.
- Students will be either assigned Acellus, need to Google Meet into the classroom, and/or complete assigned work. With proper documentation provided, these days will not count towards the student’s seven days of allowed absenteeism per semester.
- There will not be COVID days for staff and sick days will be utilized for this time.
For an individual determined to be a close contact
- 14-day quarantine from the last exposure to the individual who has the positive COVID test.
- Students will be either assigned Acellus, need to Google Meet into the classroom, and/or complete assigned work. With proper documentation provided, these days will not count towards the student’s seven days of allowed absenteeism per semester.
- There will not be COVID days for staff and sick days will be utilized for this time.
For fully vaccinated individuals:
For a COVID positive individual
- 10-day isolation from onset of symptoms or positive COVID test.
- Students will be either assigned Acellus, need to Google Meet into the classroom, and/or complete assigned work. With proper documentation provided, these days will not count towards the student’s seven days of allowed absenteeism per semester.
- There will not be COVID days for staff and sick days will be utilized for this time.
For an individual determined to be a close contact
- Individual will monitor for symptoms of COVID but will not be quarantined.
