Infection Control Measures
- Face coverings are, currently, preferred but optional.
- Physical distancing of at least 6 feet will be encouraged at all times. Please note, 6 feet of distancing is not possible in some settings.
- Water fountains will be monitored by staff and available for filling of water containers only. Students are encouraged to bring a water bottle each day.
- Students may not share food or drinks.
- Staff will work to maintain physical distancing in restrooms where possible.
- Students and staff are encouraged to provide their own personal protective equipment (PPE), if possible. PPE will be provided by MISD as needed.
- Hand sanitizer will be available in each classroom, entrances, and throughout common spaces.
- Staff will be expected to regularly wash or sanitize hands.
- Students will have instruction on effective hand-washing. Elementary students will wash hands or use hand sanitizer before eating, following restroom breaks and after recess. All secondary students will be encouraged to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer regularly.
- If in a situation without a face covering, students, staff, and visitors should cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, and if not available, covered in their elbows. Used tissues should be thrown in the trash, hands should be washed immediately with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or hand sanitizer should be used.
Health Screenings
- Staff will submit a self-screener for COVID-19 symptoms before coming onto campus each day. www.millsapisd.net/screen
- Parents/guardians will submit a COVID-19 screener for their students each week prior to sending their students to school on Monday. Parent/guardians should monitor their students throughout the week and not send students who exhibit any of the symptoms listed on the screener and submit a new screener. If a screener is not submitted by Monday, the parent will be contacted and the student must participate in remote instruction until a screener is submitted. www.millsapisd.net/screen
- Teachers will monitor students and refer to the nurse if symptoms are present.
- Visitors, including parents, are required to complete a screener to determine if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or have come into close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 upon entry into the building. *See Visitor section for more information
- If results of a COVID test are received after hours or on the weekend, please notify MISD immediately by calling your school nurse: MES 940-274-2611, MMS 940-274-2702, MHS 940-274-2656.
Campus Operations
- Campuses may open multiple entrance/exit points during arrival/dismissal to promote social distancing.
- Campuses will review options to reduce large group gatherings at the start and end of the day as well as other times of the day.
- Campuses will review options to limit locker use.
- Campuses will be disinfected daily and throughout the day with special attention to high-touch surfaces.
- Classroom doors may be propped open to reduce high-touch areas.
- Campuses will develop schedules and protocols for the use of common areas (labs, flexible spaces, libraries, conference rooms, etc.), including how to sanitize between use and decrease the levels of humiditiy in common areas. Hand sanitizer will be available in all common areas.
- Procedures and protocols will be put into place to address locker rooms. Protocols will be in place for disinfecting equipment, students changing clothes, students showering, distancing of students, decreasing levels of humidity, etc...
Learning Environments
- Desks and tables will be arranged to maximize space between students.
- The number of students participating in small group instruction at one time will be limited.
- Staff will have access to cleaning supplies to sanitize high-touch areas, working surfaces, and shared objects regularly.
- Students will share in the responsibility of cleaning their spaces.
- Staff will limit the use of shared supplies when possible.
- The use of outdoor space for learning will be considered when possible.
- Recess and the playground areas will be used utilizing safety/health protocols.
Breakfast/Lunch
- Self-serve counters will not be utilized.
- Students may not share food or drink.
- Meals will be in disposable packaging and condiments and pre-wrapped silverware will be included with all meals.
- “Grab and go” meals for breakfast may be utilized to lower numbers in the cafeterias.
- Students will receive a hot lunch in cafeterias but will likely rotate between the cafeteria, outdoors (weather permitting), and other large spaces to maximize space between groups. A rotation could be in the classroom.
- All areas will be sanitized between lunches.
Transportation
- MISD will continue to provide bus transportation, but parents will be encouraged to transport their children to school daily, if possible, as it is the safest means of transportation due to COVID-19.
- Family members will be encouraged to sit together so as to conserve spacing.
- All buses will have hand sanitizer for use when loading/unloading.
- All buses will be sanitized and wiped down daily between trips.
- Bus windows will be partially open (at minimum) during routes to provide for additional ventilation when at all possible.
- Face coverings are highly encouraged on buses.
Visitors
- Visitors, including parents, will be restricted for essential school operations. Non-emergency drop-offs...i.e. snacks, lunch, instruments, Sonic, etc. are highly discouraged.
- Parents will not walk their student to class.
- All visitors who enter the building and school activities/events are encouraged to wear a face covering.
- Campuses will utilize virtual meeting options to limit campus visitors when possible.
- Physical distancing measures will be used for all meetings that are not able to be virtual.
- Any visitor who needs to go beyond the front office will be subject to a health screening to determine if they have any COVID-19 symptoms or have come into close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19.
- Any visitor who has COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms or has come into close contact with an individual who is lab-confirmed with COVID-19 must remain off campus until the 14-day incubation period has passed unless they qualify for one of the options listed below in Return to School Criteria.
Clinic Procedures Related to COVID-19
- Students or staff who present with symptoms will be evaluated and assessed by the school nurse.
- If COVID-19 symptoms are present: staff member will be sent home, and student will be isolated from other students until they can be picked up.
- The Nurse will provide the parent/staff with the Return to School Criteria.
Notification Procedures Related to COVID-19
- Consistent with campus notification requirements for other communicable diseases, and consistent with legal confidentiality requirements, schools must notify all teachers, staff, and families of all students in a school if a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case is identified among students, teachers or staff who participate in any on campus activities. If you were determined to have had close contact you will be individually contacted.
- Close contact is defined as:
- being directly exposed to infectious secretions (e.g., being coughed on while not wearing a mask or face shield); or
- being within 6 feet for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes; however, additional factors like case/contact masking (i.e., both the infectious individual and the potential close contact have been consistently and properly masked), ventilation, presence of dividers, and case symptomology may affect this determination.
Definition of COVID-19 Symptoms
In evaluating whether an individual has symptoms consistent with COVID-19, individuals will be asked if they have recently begun experiencing any of the following in a way that is not normal for them:
- Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100 degrees Fahrenheit
- Loss of taste or smell
- Difficulty breathing
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Chills
- Congestion or runny nose
- Shaking or exaggerated shivering
- New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline);
- Sore throat
- Significant muscle pain or ache
- Diarrhea
- Nausea or vomiting
Individuals are presumed infectious at least two days prior to symptom onset or, in the case of asymptomatic individuals who are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, two days prior to the confirming lab test.
Return to School Criteria
- Any individuals who themselves either: (a) are test-confirmed to have COVID-19; or (b) experience the symptoms of COVID-19 (listed above) must stay at home throughout the infection period, and cannot return to campus until the school system screens the individual to determine if any of the below conditions for campus re-entry have been met:
o In the case of an individual who was diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual may return to school when all three of the following criteria are met:
i. at least one day (24 hours) has passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications);
ii. the individual has improvement in symptoms; and
iii. at least ten days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
o In the case of an individual who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and who is not evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, such individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to the campus until the individual has completed the same three-step set of criteria listed above.
o If the individual has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either (a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis or (b) obtain an acute infection test (at a physician’s office, approved testing location, or other site) that comes back negative for COVID-19.
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Effective 12/10/20, Millsap ISD’s Return to School protocols have been updated for those quarantined due to close contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19. This update aligns with updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the University Interscholastic League (UIL). CDC Quarantine Options This change will only affect isolations related to exposure; no changes are being made to lengths of quarantine for symptomatic individuals or for individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. If a person under quarantine develops any symptoms, the person must immediately self-isolate and be evaluated by a medical provider before returning to school. Millsap ISD reserves the opportunity to adjust these guidelines as needed due to current pandemic conditions.
Option 1: Recommended by the Centers for Disease Control
Quarantine for 14 days from the date of last exposure to the individual who has tested positive for COVID-19.
This option reflects no change to Millsap ISD’s current quarantine protocol. This option is required for any student or staff member who does not meet the criteria for early return or who does not agree to follow the MISD protocols for early return. Option 1 is preferred as it has the most supporting data and offers the highest possible containment and prevention of the spread of COVID-19.
Option 2: This option carries an estimated 1%, to as high as 10%, risk of post-quarantine transmission
- Request the required attestation from your school's nurse.
- Before attending class, present to school an attestation by written form to have completed 10 days of quarantine and to not having any COVID-related symptoms at any time during the 10 days, and
- Agreeing to continued daily monitoring for symptoms through day 14 including temperature checks at school as needed, and
- Agreeing to submit a Millsap ISD screener each school day through day 14, and
- Agreeing to adhere to mitigation strategies that include:
- Correct and consistent mask use regardless of grade level
- Social distancing
- Hand and cough hygiene
- Avoiding crowds
- Also, see: CDC Prevention Measures, and
- Avoid riding the bus if at all possible.
- Athletes may have additional requirements.
Students and staff who do not comply with these requirements will return to quarantine for days 11-14.
Option 3: Not generally recommended- This option carries an estimated 5%, to as high as 12%, risk of post-quarantine transmission.
- District communication will be provided to the staff and students who come in contact with anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 *See Notification Procedures
- MISD will immediately sanitize all areas that had exposure from someone who tested positive. In the event that this cannot be done before the start of the next school day, MISD may need to close for a day to complete this process if relocating students is not an option.
- Any student requiring quarantine will transition to At Home Learning for the period of self-isolation.
