Returning to School After Illness

Any student or school employee must have a healthcare provider note to return to school following a COVID-19 symptom-based/illness-based school absence.

ɒ For an individual with alternative diagnosis for symptom-based school absence (i.e. allergies), provider clearance is required and should include clinical evaluation but does not require COVID-19 testing.

ɒ For an individual with clinical COVID-19 who is not tested, the student or employee may return to school after at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared (unless the individual has healthcare provider clearance); at least one day (24 hours) of being fever free without the use of fever-reducing medications; and experiences improved respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).

ɒ For individuals who receive COVID-19 testing:

If COVID-19 testing (PCR test) is negative, the individual could return to school. If COVID-19 testing (PCR test) is positive, see “Individual who tests positive for COVID-19” below.

Individual who tests positive for COVID-19 must meet all three (3) of the following criteria before returning to school:

ɒ At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, unless you have healthcare provider clearance; ɒ At least one day (24 hours) fever free without the use of fever-reducing medications; and ɒ Improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath).

Individual with confirmed COVID-19 positive household contact:

The student or employee may return to school after receiving provider clearance and a period of 14 days has passed since their last exposure to the individual who tested positive for COVID-19.

Health and Safety Measures

The health and safety of our community will always be a top priority. The following is a list of safety measures we are planning to put in place, regardless of our alert level. Further details about these and other safety measures will be shared in our upcoming student handbook. cleaning products used and the frequency of

Assemblies/Large-Group Gatherings

Based on guidance from state health officials, large group gatherings will be held virtually. Some events will be canceled.

Cohorts and Decreased Mixing of Students

Academic schedules and classroom use will be designed to keep students in smaller, consistent groups (cohorts) during the day. This will reduce the risk of viral transmission coverings throughout the school day. See

and allow for discrete cohorts to quarantine and move to distance learning.

Dining Room and Food Services

eating, this is among the more complicated issues for the reopening of school. Box lunches, including vegetarian and allergy-friendly options, will be available for students. Weather permitting, students and employees will eat outdoors when possible. Expanded food options will be explored as our confidence in safety protocols is established.

Enhanced Cleaning/Disinfection Schedule

Daily cleaning practices will be compliant with CDC recommendations, including the types of cleaning. Special attention will be paid to the cleaning of high touch surfaces throughout the day. Additional custodial staff will be on duty during school days to enhance cleaning efforts throughout the entire building.

Face Coverings

All students and employees will wear face Given that masks cannot be worn while

page 11 for additional information.

Hand Hygiene

Students and faculty will follow a regular schedule of handwashing and use of hand sanitizer throughout the day. Hand sanitizer will be available in every classroom and throughout the building. In addition, students should bring their own sanitizer daily. Per FDA guidelines, hand sanitizer should not include methanol or wood alcohol.

Heath and Safety Measures

Health Screening

Families are required to monitor their household members for symptoms, including fever, and must not bring children with symptoms related to COVID-19 to school erring on the side of caution. Temperature and symptoms screening will be conducted for all students and employees at school as needed. Students with symptoms will be separated from other students and parents/ guardians will be contacted to arrange pick-up within the hour. Families should also monitor their child for COVID-19 related symptoms 14 days before the start of school this fall.

Hydration

Students are required to bring their own water bottles to school. All drinking fountains will be disabled. The touchless water bottle fountains will be available.

Physical Distancing

Movement on campus will be controlled and directed to reduce the mixing of students. In classrooms, students will be seated with spacing to minimize transmission risk, but allowed to interact more closely for limited periods with additional safety measures and greater supervision in place. Until further notice, middle school students will not use lockers in the hallway and will instead store personal items in their respective cohort rooms.

Quarantine and Contact Tracing

If a student or employee has a COVID-19 infection, school officials will support Summit County Public Health Department efforts for contact tracing and enforcing quarantining of those infected and their contacts. Provisions will be made to support the continuity of learning from home during quarantine periods.

Transportation – OTS Bus Safety Protocols

All students must wear a mask before entering the bus. All buses will be equipped with hand sanitizer and students will be directed to use this upon entering the bus and when exiting the bus. Students will be seated from the back to the front of the bus when entering and in reverse order when exiting. Students will sit one per seat (unless from the same household). All windows will be opened to provide sustained ventilation. Drivers will wear a face mask. All buses will be disinfected and sanitized after morning drop off and again after evening drop off. If you plan to use public school transportation, please contact your local school district’s transportation department to learn about their procedures/protocols for the upcoming school year.

Heath and Safety Measures

Other Safe Classroom Practices

Teaching methods will be adjusted to minimize shared equipment or learning materials between students; Classroom practices will reduce the transfer of objects between home and school and touching of other students’ personal belongings; Infrastructure will be put in place to minimize surfaces which cannot easily be disinfected.

Updated Sick Policy and Enforcement Practices

Rules regarding sick policies for students and employees will be enhanced and strictly enforced to minimize the number of sick people on campus, as well as to allow continuity of learning from home for mildly ill or asymptomatic students.

Visitors on Campus

Visitors will be restricted to those who have essential business on campus and all visitors will be required to wear a mask, have their temperature taken upon arrival, and complete a health screening form. During this time, we encourage families and visitors to complete all school business electronically, via phone, email or video conference, to limit the number of visitors to campus during the school day. Prospective families will have the opportunity to learn more about the school through virtual events and on-campus visits, when appropriate, this year.