1. immediately conduct contact tracing within the school community;
2. immediately notify and provide quarantine instructions to students or staff members identified as close contacts with the affected person; and
3. immediately sanitize all affected areas per our COVID Response Plan.

Preventing the transmission of COVID-19:

• All staff and students must wear face coverings at all times in school and on the bus unless medically exempt or eating lunch
• Capacity on buses has been reduced and students are assigned seats for contact tracing purposes
• Extensive cleaning and sanitization efforts have been implemented in all facilities and on buses, and hand sanitizer is available throughout the district
• COVID isolation rooms have been designated at each school
• Access to facilities is limited to essential personnel unless invited by a building administrator or staff, and everyone entering buildings is subject to all safety protocols
• Large group events have been suspended and/or operate in compliance with MDHHS directives
• Staff are required to self-screen daily before reporting to work and must stay home if they have a fever of 100.4 or greater and/or are exhibiting COVID symptoms
• Parents are asked to:
  • educate their child(ren) about the proper use of wearing masks, the importance of hand washing, and maintaining physical distance from others
  • screen child(ren) at home daily before sending them to school, and keep them home if they have a fever of 100.4 or greater and/or are exhibiting COVID symptoms
• A full description of prevention and mitigation strategies can be found in the district’s COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan

Additional information:

• Privacy regulations/HIPAA restrict us from sharing identifying information about individuals affected by COVID-19.
• We will continue to work closely with Kent County Health Department when there are positive cases and will follow their guidance for handling the impact of cases at the classroom, building, and district levels.  We will also seek guidance from the Health Department regarding thresholds for maintaining in-person instruction.
• The Governor’s Return to School Roadmap outlines protocols for how districts are to respond to positive cases of COVID among staff or the student body, and those protocols are part of our COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Plan.  Several resources, including these documents, are available on our website.
• We will continue to enforce all established protocols on the buses and in the schools, including mandatory face coverings, promoting hand washing and use of sanitizer, suspension of large group gatherings, increased cleaning schedules, and adjusted lunch and hallway protocols.