Dear Families,
On Tuesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health announced a change in quarantine guidance. As a result, we are going to amend our return-to-learn plans to reflect the new changes according to Linn County Public Health in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Public Health. We have outlined the changes below.
Close contact and quarantine will now be based on the following criteria:
There are a few additional notations based on this proclamation that are important to share:
Iowa and Linn County Public Health are using the CDC recommendations for face coverings;
this means that the only acceptable face covering is a mask (gators and face shields will not qualify for this new policy.) More information on the CDC recommendation of masks can be found below.
Students will still be provided mask breaks as identified in our plan.
We are still continuing with our mitigation practices as defined in our cleaning and PPE requirements as outlined in our return-to-learn plans.
Close Contact Identification Process
When a student comes into close contact with an identified student or staff member who tests positive for COVID-19, the school office will notify the close contact’s parents after contact tracing.
If the close contact and positive student and/or staff member are both wearing masks, then the close contact will self-monitor for 14 days, but CAN remain in school.
Each family has the choice to quarantine and start virtual learning if they feel more comfortable after being in close contact with a positive student and/or staff member.
We will continue to evaluate our multi-layer mitigation strategies and continue our work with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Linn County Public Health. The new quarantine and mask guidance will be put into place starting Friday, October 2nd. Up to this point, we have been pleased with the results and efforts from our faculty and staff, as well as our students and their families. So thank you for your continued efforts. The “When to Stay Home” flowchart has been updated and is linked below (Updated XCS Flow Chart.) Please let me know if you have any further questions.
God Bless,
Mrs. Conlon
