Covid FAQs

If it is recommended that a staff member or student wear a mask (ie because of isolation/symptoms/close contact) they should continue to wear a mask in all public spaces.

Testing will be recommended for any student or staff who meets Covid-19 symptom criteria, which includes: Any one of the following: Cough, shortness of breath, or loss of taste or smell
OR
Any two of the following: Sore throat, Muscle pain or body aches, Headache, Fever (>100.4 degrees F), Runny nose or nasal congestion, Vomiting, Diarrhea

If someone declines testing, they will need to stay home for 5 days of isolation. They may return on day 6, as long as symptoms are improving, no fever, vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours, and student/staff feel well enough to attend school for the full day and should wear a mask for the entire school day on days 6-10.

Anyone who is symptomatic or completing isolation (days 6-10) should mask when in public spaces.

Going forward, MMSD will follow universal strategies for infection prevention. All MMSD staff are required to complete a COVID-19 training module in our Talent Portal regarding these strategies. Training addresses the following:

• Staying home when sick
• Respiratory Etiquette
• Hand Hygiene
• Routine Cleaning
• Vaccination
• Optimized ventilation

Every Sunday evening families will get an email reminder that they will need to complete a screener if any day during the following week their student has any symptoms of Covid, are a close contact or tested positive for Covid. This screener is agile and dynamic and will give detailed follow up based upon choices selected. Students or staff who have any symptoms of illness will be directed to stay home.

We will offer Covid testing, and if negative they may stay at school and should mask if having respiratory symptoms. All fevers, vomiting, diarrhea will be sent home. If testing is declined, they are considered Covid positive until proven otherwise, and must isolate for at least five days.

Negative Rapid Antigen tests (home test kits or laboratory), as well as PCR tests are accepted to return to school. Rapid Antigen Test kits are available in every school health office. If you are in need of home rapid antigen tests, please reach out to your school nurse.

School nurses collaborate with Public Health Madison & Dane County to continue mitigation strategies, and complete case investigation with all positive cases. If someone is diagnosed with COVID-19 they will need to isolate at home from day 0-5. They are cleared to return to school and should mask on days 6-10 if they are fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medications, and symptoms are resolving.

Please report all positive home tests to Public Health Madison Dane County here

MMSD has an adequate supply of all types of medical grade PPE available to staff and students who need it. MMSD offers specialized PPE for any staff member that wishes to use it.

We are grateful for our community partners, including the Boys and Girls Club and the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, who have generously supported our students and families in so many ways, including by donating supplies and masks.

Students should wear masks when indicated unless the student has a disability related condition that prevents them from wearing a mask or removing their mask themselves. IEP and 504 teams will meet to discuss what accommodations the student may need. Staff should take extra precautions (e.g., a face shield with a mask) if a student is unable to wear a mask. Efforts should be made to desensitize the student to wearing a mask (consult Occupational Therapy).

Staff that work with medically fragile students are highly encouraged to mask when in close contact with high risk individuals. IEP and 504 teams should meet to discuss any accommodations the student may need, including special seating in the classroom or during lunch.

We know many of our students, families and staff are carrying a great deal of anxiety and stress. We are working hard to make whether or not someone is or isn't wearing a mask a non issue, and that all staff and students are accepted and included.

COVID-19 testing is open to all MMSD staff and students. Testing helps reduce community spread and keeps schools operating safely. Testing individuals who are symptomatic helps enable rapid detection of cases in the school community and reduce or prevent school outbreaks.

Through a collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, we are partnering with a testing vendor called Accelerated Clinical Laboratories. Accelerated Clinical Laboratories (ACL) will be housed inside school buildings. See ACL schedule here. One time registration at WI COVID Connect 2.0 required prior to testing:

Covid Connect 2 Information - English

Covid Connect 2 Information - Spanish

Covid Connect 2 Information - Hmong

Families will have the opportunity to sign a consent form allowing their students, if symptomatic, to be tested right at school. Students will visit the kiosk only when accompanied by a family member or staff member.

Accelerated Clinical Labs  will offer two test types:

• Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test
• PCR COVID-19 Test

Learn more about how the Department of Health Services is partnering with Wisconsin schools to offer testing.

When our vendor, ACL, is not in your school building, Health Services staff will have limited testing available (rapid antigens only) for students and staff.

We continue to publish a case count dashboard that is updated every Wednesday. We restarted the dashboard for the 2022-23 school year. (The previous school year's case count is archived on the page for your reference.)

You can check the page at any time to see the number of individuals who have tested positive and who have been close contacts in any MMSD building in the last 14 days: We also report the district-wide cumulative total for the school year at: mmsd.org/casecount. It is our desire to be transparent while protecting individual student and staff privacy. For this reason, we suppress numbers of 6 or fewer.

We certainly hope this will occur rarely if at all, but there may be times that your child is not exposed to COVID-19 but their classroom must temporarily close, or the entire building must temporarily close for a period of time.

This could be due to a variety of reasons. Factors considered include the number of student and staff absences, safety practices, Public Health data and other community concerns.

In these cases, we will communicate with you as quickly as possible about closures so you have as much time as possible to plan. However, we know that there may be times when there is very little time to plan, but we will do our best to send texts (please be sure you have opted in to receiving text messages in Infinite Campus), automated phone calls, and emails.

New COVID-19 variants continue to be identified. Variants are a cause for concern but not a cause for panic. We have more tools to fight new variants today than ever before. The best protection against any new variant of COVID-19, is to get fully vaccinated and get a booster shot. If you are not vaccinated, now is the time to get vaccinated and to take your child to get vaccinated. Anyone ages 6 months and older can get a free, safe, and effective vaccine now.

Bivalent booster shots are available for anyone age 5 and older at least two months after completing the primary series of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine or since their last booster. Getting your booster shot will provide the best protection from COVID-19, including new variants.

Vaccines reduce the ability of a virus to infect people. Vaccines provide protection against COVID-19 variants since many of the characteristics of the virus remain the same. The sooner people get vaccinated against COVID-19, the less opportunity we give the virus to keep mutating. To find a COVID-19 vaccine provider in your community, visit Vaccines.gov, or call 211 or 877-947-2211.

DHS also urges all Wisconsinites to take a layered approach to help slow the spread of COVID-19. People should practice good hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, wear masks as indicated and get vaccinated.

For additional information about booster doses, additional doses, and help accessing your COVID-19 vaccine record to determine when you may be recommended for a booster, visit the DHS Additional Doses and Booster Doses webpage.