The following information was sent out by the Waterford Graded School District on January 3rd, 2022.
For the original copy with all hyperlinks go HERE.
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January 3, 2022
Dear WGSD Families,
We appreciate your support in working with the District through this school year. In October and December 2021, our school district laid out an updated COVID protocol regarding mask, quarantine, and isolation. As COVID evolves, so will our protocols. These updates reflect our current state of Covid and rationale for new strategies.
Masks
In all WGSD buildings, masks are highly suggested during community peaks above 100 per 100,000 COVID-19 cases and suggested when cases are below 100 per 100,000. Data can be found here in the map section/school district tab and utilizing Waterford WUHS boundary.
Masks are recommended by the CDC for anyone who is considered a close contact of a positive case, regardless of their vaccination status.
Masks are welcomed for staff, students, and community members; year round in school settings regardless of pandemic or endemic. At times, someone may be asked to remove their mask for identification purposes.
This change within WGSD buildings does not affect the current federal mandate for masking on buses which is in effect through 01/2022.
Notification
WGSD will no longer notify families of cases identified in each classroom as of January 1, 2022. Since the vaccine has been available to all individuals ages 5 and up and WGSD has hosted four vaccine clinics, we believe our community members have had ample time to review the risks and benefits of vaccination and natural disease.
The Waterford Area COVID-19 dashboard will no longer receive updates after January 1, 2022. We encourage families to review the Department of Health Services (DHS) school district data in the previous hyperlink and review the case rate per 100,000 within the WUHS district boundaries.
Testing
COVID-19 testing is NOT required in the Waterford Graded School District (WGSD) for the purpose of entry or return to school. WGSD encourages all families to have open conversations with their family medical practitioner when students present with acute illness of unknown origin. If you and your family are seeking COVID testing, please utilize the Impact 211 link here for testing sites in your location.
When to Keep Your Student Home
If your student/child tests positive for COVID-19 or is considered a close contact, please see the recommendations in the below sections. For non-COVID related illness, our district will continue to follow our Pre-COVID school exclusions such as:
● Oral temperature greater than 100.4 (must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school without medications to reduce fever)
● Vomiting (must be vomit free for 24 hours before returning to school)
● Diarrhea (if a student has two or more watery stools in 24 hours, please stay home for 24 hours after the last watery stool).
As a parent or caregiver, you know your child the best. If your child does not appear to be well or is off their baseline of normal health, please consider keeping your student home until they are well and consult your primary care provider as needed.
Quarantine
Quarantine is a parent/family option. Quarantine should be determined by the family through evaluating unique family dynamics, acute/chronic medical needs, COVID-19 vaccination history, and COVID-19 infection history. WGSD encourages families to utilize the following information to guide your decisions. If your family is contacted by a local/municipal health department regarding quarantine, please consider their recommendations based upon the uniqueness of the case.
Rationale: WGSD recognizes family dynamics in medical decisions related to COVID-19 and recognizes periods of rapid test shortages, potential lag time in PCR test results, and the limited testing supplies. WGSD also recognizes the increase in other childhood illnesses and other respiratory illnesses that are currently circulating in Wisconsin. Last updated https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publication/p02346-2021-11-6.pdf
A Close Contact is defined as any of the following:
● Closer than 6 feet, for 15 minutes or more total in a day
● Direct exposure to coughs, sneezes, or other bodily fluids
● Direct physical contact with someone e.g. hug, kiss, handshake
● Living or having spent the night with someone
Source: https://crchd.com/covid-19#Contact
● Exception: In the K–12 indoor classroom setting or a structured outdoor setting where mask use can be observed (i.e., holding class outdoors with educator supervision), the close contact definition excludes students who were between 3 to 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinical diagnosis) if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time.
Process for Quarantine Decision: (UPDATED 1/3/2022)
● For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to be quarantined following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19. (CDC 12/27/2021)
● Parents are encouraged to continue symptom monitoring and masking in the school environment through Day 10 since last contact with a positive COVID-19 case regardless of vaccination status or recent natural infection in the last 90 days.
Isolation
WGSD will adhere to the current isolation guidelines (testing positive for COVID-19 regardless of vaccination status) based upon the information from the CDC and the Central Racine County Health Department. The below information was obtained from the CRCHD web page and CDC update 12/27/2021
● Isolate at home
○People with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. (CDC 12/27/2021)
○ How do you isolate and not infect others in the home? Please see CDC: Households Living in Close Quarters
○ Do not go to work, school, or other public areas; restrict activities outside of your home, except to get medical care.
● Identify and notify your close contacts
○ Tell them you have tested positive and that they should stay home for 7, 10, or 14 days starting the day after their last exposure to you. (WGSD statement: please note this is a CRCHD suggestion based upon their most up-to-date guidelines. Workplaces and schools may have different guidelines and protocols. Please advise close contacts to review quarantine guidelines based upon their municipality). Please see Next Steps: I tested positive for COVID-19. What can I do to help notify my close contacts of their exposure?.
● Notify those who need to know such as your workplace, school, and daycare.
● Answer the phone call from your local health department.
● You do not need to be tested again if you have recently had a positive test. Your test may be positive for many weeks after you recover. You do not need a negative test to stop isolating as of 1/3/2022.
The above protocol is subject to change based upon school district infection data along with federal, state and local lawful requirements.
The following information is directly from the CDC 12-27-2021 update and should be used as a visual reference to support the updated, above material, directly from the CDC. While the CDC states below as someone “must” wear a mask, we continue to suggest mask wearing as noted above in the protocol.
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Posted by Matt Kranich on 8/23/2021
mattkranich@gmail.com
WGSD Parent
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