vid

January 10, 2022

Dear Parent/Guardian,

This document outlines WISD procedures to prevent or mitigate the spread of COVID and to respond when a positive case is identified. This guidance comes directly from Texas Education Agency, Department of State Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and our local health authorities. All health and safety protocols are subject to change. We will continue to monitor all new changes and update as needed.

Some major points from the plan include masking, screening, reporting of positive or suspected Covid cases and close contacts. 

Mask:

Per our governor's mandate, masks are permissible at WISD, but not required. 

Screenings:

Our teachers and staff will self-screen for COVID symptoms before coming to work/school each day.  Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school if the child is lab-confirmed with COVID or if the child is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 after a known exposure/close contact.

Reporting:

For students, a parent/guardian should call the campus your child attends and report positive case or Covid-like symptoms.  Teachers and staff are required to report to the district if

1) they have come into close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID; or

2) they themselves have COVID symptoms or have tested positive for Covid.

 

For Students and Staff Suspected of having Covid:

Students who are actively sick with Covid-like symptoms or who have received a positive test result for Covid must be excluded from attending school in person.  Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has COVID symptoms or is test-confirmed with COVID, until the conditions for re-entry are met. 

 

 

 

Re-entry criteria for Positive Covid:

Anyone who has tested positive for Covid may not return to school until at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset, 24-hour fever free, and other symptoms have improved. Children who test positive for COVID but do not have any symptoms must stay home until at least 10 days after the day there were tested. 

Re-entry criteria for Covid-like symptoms:

If symptomatic (fever or chills, cough, nasal congestion or runny nose, new loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, diarrhea or vomiting, stomachache, tiredness, headache, and muscle or body aches), one of the following criteria must be followed for the student to come back on campus:

  • isolate for 10 days since symptom onset, and fever free (without the use of fever suppressing medications), and other major symptoms have improved.  Fever is a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or higher
  • Non-Covid Diagnosis
  • Negative Covid Test

 

Staff Who Have COVID-19 or Who are Close Contacts:

Similar to students, school systems must exclude staff from attending school in person who are actively sick with COVID-19, who are suspected of being actively sick with COVID-19, or who have received a positive test result for COVID-19. Based on recent updates from the CDC, staff may return when:

  • If symptomatic, at least 5 days have passed since symptom onset, and fever free*, and other symptoms have improved.
  • For those with no symptoms, at least 5 days after the day they tested positive.
  • Ages 18 or older and have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people.
  • Was confirmed COVID-19 positive within the last 90 days and has fully recovered.

*Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever suppressing medications. Fever is a temperature of 100° Fahrenheit (37.8° Celsius) or higher.

Staff who meet the close contact threshold with a COVID-19 positive individual and are in one of the following groups, do not need to stay at home.

For staff who meet the close contact threshold with a COVID-19 positive individual who are not in one of the above groups, it is recommended that the school system require that staff remain off campus during the stay-at-home period, but this is a local employment policy decision.

 

 

Students Who are Close Contacts:

If school systems are made aware that a student is a close contact, the school system must notify the student’s parents.  If a student is a close contact and asymptomatic, the student is recommended to quarantine but not required.  If a student is a close contact, asymptomatic, and vaccinated, the student may not need to follow the stay-at-home period.  If the student is a close contact and symptomatic, the student will have to have a negative PCR test to return back to school. 

Missed school work:

If you are symptomatic for Covid, positive for Covid, or quarantined due to close contact, please notify your campus to discuss missed assignments within 3 school days.  If we have not heard from you within those 3 school days, these absences will not be considered Covid absences.  Covid absences will not count against exemptions for exams.

Thank you,

Dave Wilcox, Steve Pinnell, and Erika Martin