Updates from District 200

District 200 Community,

Thank you to our entire school community for continuing to come together to keep students safe and in school. We look forward to welcoming our students and staff back to our schools on Monday, January 3, 2022. As we approach the end of Winter Break, we have a few reminders for our school community.

Guidance for Schools
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) are adopting the CDC guidance on shortening isolation and quarantine periods for COVID-19 starting.

• Everyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, should stay masked when around others for 10 days following onset of symptoms, or if no symptoms for 10 days following the date of a positive test.
• Everyone who tests positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, should isolate for 5 days after onset of symptoms, or 5 days after the date of a positive test if no symptoms are present.
• If the case has no symptoms or their symptoms have resolved after 5 days, they are released from isolation after 5 days. They should continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.

The CDC’s new isolation and quarantine recommendations for the public are outlined below:

If You Test Positive for COVID-19 (Isolate) — everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

• Stay home for 5 days.
• If you have no symptoms or your symptoms are resolving after 5 days, you can leave your house.
• Continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.
• If you have a fever, continue to stay home until your fever resolves.

If You Were Exposed to Someone with COVID-19 (Quarantine)
If you are eligible for boosting or have been boosted* OR completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine within the last 6 months OR
completed the primary series of J&J vaccine within the last 2 months:

• Wear a mask around others for 10 days.
• Test on day 5, if possible.
• If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home.
• *Children who have received the primary vaccination series and are not eligible for booster doses after 6 months should not be excluded from school after close contact unless they develop symptoms and test positive for COVID.

If you completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine over 6 months ago and are not boosted OR completed the primary series of J&J over 2 months ago and are not boosted OR are unvaccinated:

• Stay home for 5 days. After that continue to wear a mask around others for 5 additional days.
• Test on day 5 if possible.
• If you develop symptoms get a test and stay home

Mitigations
District 200 schools will continue to remain vigilant in our COVID-19 mitigation efforts. As a reminder to our school community, our mitigation efforts include:

• Physical distancing at 3–6 feet, including 6 feet at lunch at elementary and middle schools
• At-home COVID-19 symptom monitoring
• Hand hygiene practices
• Cleaning and disinfecting practices
• Monitoring ventilation and filtration
• Contact tracing
• Data monitoring and case reporting
• Optional COVID-19 testing
• Optional Test to Stay program for in-school close contacts
• Share information regarding vaccine opportunities for those eligible
• Masks required indoors and on school transportation

Outbreak Investigation Protocol
District 200 has established an outbreak investigation protocol in alignment with the Illinois Department of Public Health school guidance. For three cases (or 10%) in a specified core group within a single school, District 200 looks beyond close contact (physical distancing) and also analyzes other factors, including the implementation of mitigations, information from nurses’ notes, ventilation data, including a direct visit to individual classrooms if needed. For cases where there was a shared school space, a deeper investigation is conducted and additional mitigations are applied as needed for that individual school or space.

Symptom Monitoring
District 200 asks our school community to please continue at-home COVID-19 symptom monitoring. Families and staff are asked to monitor for the following COVID-19 symptoms based on the IDPH Decision Tree on a regular basis:

• Fever (100.4°F or higher)
• new onset of moderate to severe headache
• shortness of breath
• new cough
• sore throat
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• new loss of sense of taste or smell
• fatigue from unknown cause
• muscle or body aches from unknown cause

Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination
District 200 continues to collect proof of COVID-19 vaccination from families that choose to submit it. Families can voluntarily submit a copy of proof of vaccine to your school health office. School nurses will collect proof of vaccine to assist in contact tracing. At this time, students and staff who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine if the student/staff is identified as a close contact to a positive case if they are asymptomatic.

We value the importance of our students continuing to learn in our school buildings. We are committed to following our layered mitigation strategies, contact tracing and outbreak investigations, and supporting our families with symptom monitoring. Thank you for your continued partnership as we continue to navigate this pandemic together.

Sincerely,

District 200