COVID info

COVID Reminders

Nate Meyers COVID info

I know there is a lot of information coming at you regarding COVID protocols and communication. I tried to compile the critical reminders here. 

I am grateful for your patience, flexibility and diligence during these unprecedented times.

If you think I missed something, please let me know. Also, if you have a question on anything COVID related, please check in with me via email or in person. I am happy to help. 

  • Please be vigilant with wearing your mask and ensuring that students have their masks on and above their noses. 
    • You should be wearing your mask in your classroom or office space when other adults are present. 
    • When eating your lunch, please ensure at least six feet of separation.
  • Update seating charts:
    • Classroom seating charts can be added HERE
    • Cafeteria seating charts HERE.
  • How do we handle lunch for those returning after a 5-day isolation? 
    • Do NOT isolate. Students should wear masks while in line and at all times when not actually eating. Once actual eating is complete, they should put the mask back in immediately. No specific distancing is required, but distance as much as possible. Again, do not isolate or put them off to the side of the caf. 
  • KN 95 masks are available in the office. Please do not take more than one package at a time. Once you use up the 5, you can take another pack.
    • Please see the email from Adam Deleidi for more details on these masks.
  • If you have not received a rapid test, please see Nate.
  • The shortened quarantine period is based on asymptomatic cases or improved symptoms (can return on day six without a fever and without a productive cough for 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medication. The at-home period may be reduced to 5 days, but the individual must continue to mask (unless eating at a distance) outside the home for five more days. 
  • Fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks following the completion of the Pfizer or Moderna series or two weeks following a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. Please see footnote #5 on the Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 Scenarios – SY 2021-22 (Highlighted) 
  • Vaccinated close contacts are exempt from Testing and Quarantine Protocols. Please see page 3 on the Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 Scenarios – SY 2021-22 (Highlighted) 

Pooled Testing Update

Nate Meyers COVID info

Pooled Testing

Weekly COVID POOLED testing for students and staff begins this week. CPS and Sokolowski have sent information both in printed and electronic forms to families via backpacks, ClassDojo, and text message. Families and staff MUST enroll to participate. (This is a different vendor, so it’s a new sign-up at this link (Soko specific); please complete again if you had signed up previously.) Sample collection kits will go home Monday, May 10 and will be collected by Tuesday, May 11 by 9:30AM.  We encourage all staff to participate in this testing program, even if you have been fully vaccinated. If you have tested positive within the past 90 days, you can enroll, but should not submit any samples until 90 days have passed from the end of your isolation period. If you have questions on whether you can submit samples, please ask your school nurse or elementary testing coordinator

-Cindy Brown brownc@chelseaschools.com

Sample Collection

  • Classroom bags of sample collection kits for classroom teachers and paraprofessionals have been passed out by Juliann. There are enough kits for the students and adults in your room. Sample collection kits for all other adults in the building can be picked up in the nurse’s office.
  • Distribute kits for students to take home Monday. For this week (only, I think) send a tube home with EVERY kid, even though not all will have enrolled yet. Please encourage your kids to ask their parents to sign them up and participate.
  • TIP: Consider having kids write their initials and date of birth on their empty tube on Monday, before sending them home. This reduces one step for the families to complete and ensures at least one way their sample can be identified.
  • Students will bring in their saliva sample on Tuesday morning. Decide on how you want kids to deposit the samples into the collection box: for example, you could collect bagged samples in a basket in your room and then put them in the collection box — or, you could direct kids with samples to step out and drop their sample directly into the pick-up box. Boxes will be picked up by nursing staff by 9:30AM Tuesday morning.
  • Enrolled staff can drop their sample into any convenient collection box! It’s fine for sealed samples to mix classes/grades in the collection boxes; the lab uses the unique QR code identifiers when pooling.
  • If a kid says his family forgot to scan the QR code on their tube, it is possible for us to do that — it just asks for the kid’s name and birthdate. You may do so if you wish, or send the child to the nurse with sample to ask for help.

Self-Certification

As of Monday, staff are no longer required to self-certify our health in order to enter buildings.  The health screening for visitors will remain in place as they enter at the Community Entrance.

COVID Protocol Cases while in Remote Learning

Nate Meyers COVID info , ,

Dear Colleagues,

 

As we continue to hear about positive COVID cases from our students, we want to clarify what can and cannot be shared as well as what steps we can take to support our families. It is important that we follow the below.

 

If a staff member comes across information of a positive STUDENT case, the staff member should notify the school nurse and the principal. The information should not be shared with anyone else. This information is protected by lawas students and families have legal rights to privacy under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974).  The principal will notify central office who will report to DPH and DESE.  DESE will not collect any identifiable information. While students are in remote learning and not in the building, information regarding positive student cases will not be reported to DESE or DPH.

 

If a staff member comes across information of a positive case of a STUDENT’S FAMILY MEMBER that is not a CPS student, this information should not be shared. This information is protected by law, and families have legal rights to privacy under HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996). DPH already has a structure in place for contact tracers to work with any positive cases.

 

In order to be able to help families that are seeking support without violating their right to privacy, staff members can certainly share support staff contact information with a reporting student or family member. For example, if a student tells his/her teacher that his/her family is having a hard time due to COVID, the teacher can suggest that they reach out to a social worker or counselor. However, the teacher cannot pass along that info to the support staff, nor can the support staff member reach out to the family based on that report – – teachers should only notify the school nurse or principals.

 

If you are unclear, please discuss with your principal.  And, if you need further clarification, please reach out to Adam Deleidi, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support at deleidia@chelseaschools.com.

 

Thank you for all you are doing in this difficult time.

Almi