Mitigation Strategies

Masks

ACPS will provide masks (KN95, cloth or disposable) to students and employees upon request. Masks are not required, but they are encouraged when someone is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or has a known exposure to COVID-19, or when recommended by the CDC's COVID-19 Community Level for Albemarle County.

Please note: Following a COVID-19 diagnosis, any employee who meets the return-to-work criteria and returns to work on or after Day 6 is required to wear a mask through Day 10.

Hand Hygiene

Everyone is encouraged to wash or sanitize their hands frequently during the day. Hand sanitizing dispensers and/or sinks are available in multiple areas of each building and on each school bus.

Cleaning

Throughout the day, custodial staff disinfect high-touch surfaces. At night, custodians clean and disinfect classrooms and other spaces that were used during the day. Disinfecting wipes are available in all occupied classrooms for use by students and employees, as needed.

Ventilation

Air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are used in all classrooms, clinics, and school buses.

All students and employees should use our Daily Health Screening tool to decide if they should attend school or report to work. Anyone who is sick should stay home.

A student who becomes ill at school with fever, constant cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, persistent sore throat, vomiting, and/or diarrhea will be sent home. If the student has no known exposure to COVID-19 in the last 10 days, they may return to school when their symptoms have improved and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication.

A student who is experiencing COVID 19 symptoms* and has a known exposure to someone with COVID-19 within the past 10 days will be sent home from school and may not return to school until their symptoms have improved, they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and one of the following has occurred:

• The student has provided a Return to School Form completed by a health care provider;
• The student has received a negative COVID-19 PCR test;
• The student has provided a signed Parent/Guardian Declaration Form as proof of two negative COVID-19 antigen (rapid) tests taken 48 hours apart OR one negative COVID-19 antigen (rapid) test taken on or after Day 6 (with Day 0 being the first day of symptoms); or
• At least 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms.

*COVID-19 symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, chills, fatigue, headache, stuffy or runny nose, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.

Important Note: When a student becomes ill at school, the school will notify the parent/guardian, who will be asked to pick up their symptomatic child promptly.

The parent/guardian of a student diagnosed with COVID-19 should contact their child’s school nurse as soon as possible.

Any student who tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, must stay home for at least 5 days. The student may not return to school until their symptoms have improved, they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and they have received a negative COVID-19 antigen (rapid) test on or after Day 6 (with Day 0 being the first day of symptoms or the date of the positive test, whichever came first). Without a negative antigen test, the student may not return to school until at least 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms.

Important Notes:

• ACPS will provide an antigen test to any student who needs one.
• A signed Parent/Guardian Declaration Form (or documentation from a health professional) must be provided as proof of a negative COVID-19 antigen test.
• Following a COVID-19 diagnosis, the earliest a student may return to school is Day 6. Students who return to school following a negative antigen test on or after Day 6 are recommended to wear a mask through Day 10.
• If the student chooses not to get tested, the earliest they can return to school is Day 11.

Employees should report a diagnosis of COVID-19 to their school nurse or supervisor as soon as possible for the purpose of monitoring potential outbreak trends.

Any employee who tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, must stay home for at least 5 days. The employee may not return to work until their symptoms have improved, they have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and they have received a negative COVID-19 antigen (rapid) test on or after Day 6 (with Day 0 being the first day of symptoms or the date of the positive test, whichever came first). Without a negative antigen test, the employee may not return to work until at least 10 days have passed since the onset of symptoms.

Important Notes:

• ACPS will provide an antigen test to any employee who needs one.
• Following a COVID-19 diagnosis, the earliest an employee may return to work is Day 6. Employees who return to work following a negative antigen test on or after Day 6 are required to wear a mask through Day 10.
• If the employee chooses not to get tested, the earliest they can return to work is Day 11.

Regardless of vaccination status, quarantine is not currently recommended in K-12 school settings for any individual who is exposed to COVID-19 and remains asymptomatic. As long as the student or employee remains without symptoms, they may continue to attend school or report to work.

An individual has been "exposed" to COVID-19 if they have been within 6 feet of a person who has COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, or if they have had direct contact with the respiratory secretions (such as from a cough or sneeze) of an infected person. Persons who have had recent confirmed or suspected exposure to an infected person are recommended to wear a mask for 10 days around others when indoors and to seek testing 5 days after exposure (or sooner, if they are symptomatic).

An outbreak is currently defined as three or more cases linked by a common exposure at school or work. If an outbreak is declared by the local health department, ACPS will take the following steps:

• Conduct contact tracing to identify and notify close contacts.
  • Close contacts will be asked to monitor for symptoms and wear a mask, if willing.
  • Close contacts who are asymptomatic do not need to quarantine.
• Notify all staff and families in the affected cohort (e.g., class, club, team, etc.) of the outbreak.
  • The full school community will be notified only if the outbreak crosses cohorts (i.e., involves multiple classes, clubs, teams, etc.).
• Track all documented outbreaks of COVID-19 across the school division and provide data to the public online through the ACPS COVID-19 Dashboard.
  • Note: In the 2022-23 school year, the ACPS COVID-19 Dashboard will not track individual cases, nor will schools notify staff and families of individual cases.
• Use assigned seating, whenever helpful, to assist with contact tracing efforts.
• Act according to any other recommendations of the health department.

Please note: Per the Virginia Department of Health, if a school is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak that has been difficult to control or is unusual in size or scope, regional and local epidemiologists may apply professional judgment and recommend that traditional quarantine and isolation standards be applied until the situation is stabilized. For example, in the event of a large outbreak, the health department may recommend quarantine for close contacts who are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines. In such circumstances, ACPS will follow the guidance of our local Blue Ridge Health District.

Vaccination is the best protection against severe illness. The latest information about COVID-19 vaccines, including which vaccines are available, who is eligible for a booster, and how to get a free vaccine, is available on the Virginia Department of Health's COVID-19 Vaccination Response site.