What you need to know about contact tracing, isolating, quarantining, and classroom or school closures
Our goal is to keep students in schools, learning in person, as long as it is safe to do so. To achieve this, we use a layered mitigation strategy, starting with the two most powerful strategies: Vaccinations and masking.
When we layer in physical distancing, symptom screening, handwashing, covering sneezes and coughs, cleaning, and contact tracing, we have a very strong strategy for eliminating the spread of COVID-19.
Determining a Close Contact
Instruction During Quarantine or Isolation
What Happens When We Close a Classroom
Closing a classroom (elementary or cohorted middle school)
If about half or more students in a classroom must quarantine, we'll generally close the entire classroom and students will switch to virtual learning temporarily. The length of closure is typically 10 days but could be extended if additional positive cases are discovered in the class.
A few other factors could result in a classroom closure, even if fewer than half the class is required to quarantine. Examples include:
- how many positive individuals there are in the class
- how long the positive individual(s) was/were present at school while infectious
What about non-cohorted middle schools and high schools?
In secondary schools, when cohorting is not possible, closing a classroom may not be effective or necessary. Instead, students required to isolate or quarantine will engage in asynchronous instruction.
What if my child's entire school building closes?
It would also allow us time to ensure we have sufficient staffing to reopen the school or the district.
Reopening decisions would be made in conjunction with guidance from our county and state health departments as well as our panel of health experts.