The two questions we hear most often are "Are there COVID cases in the school?", and "Why aren't parents being notified about COVID cases in school?" COVID is everywhere in our community these days, and that includes schools. In order to protect the privacy of our students, we do not make a notification every time someone is out with COVID related symptoms, nor when someone tests positive.
Blaine School District has a COVID-19 Safety Team that meets regularly to ensure communication and coordination across the district. We also work closely with the health department when there is a confirmed case associated with one of our sites.
Reported cases are first confirmed to be lab positive and to be associated with the school. The impacted location's COVID Coordinators then work to determine if there were any close contacts to the individual.
If there are determined to be close contacts of a confirmed case, we work with the health department to notify the staff member or parents/guardians that there has been contact with a confirmed case.
Next steps are determined by the health department, which may include recommendations for COVID testing, isolation and/or quarantine. We communicate directly with impacted staff and families and share resources according to the guidance of the health department.
In some cases, a cohort of students may shift to remote learning for a period of time.
Someone from the COVID Safety Team will communicate with the staff member or family regarding their return date.
Please remember if your student is ill, they should stay home from school and you should report their illness to their school's attendance line. The schools will need the below information;
Your student’s specific symptoms
Start date of symptoms
Last day your student was at school
Have they been around anyone who has tested COVID positive in the last 14 days?
Has your student ridden the bus to or from school?
Do you have other students in your household, and are they having symptoms?
For more information, including a screening flowchart, please visit our COVID-19 Information & Updates section.