Our start up this year has gone as planned but it’s not the regular year start up we’re used to. I have to say that students and parents are all doing surprisingly well given all the changes, and we’d like to express our thanks for the supportive messages and thoughts that have been sent our way. If you’re like many in allergy season, there is the question about how to handle that dilemma about the symptoms showing similarly to some COVID symptoms. I’ll paste below here what our school division is emphasizing and encourage you to call the office at our school if you have questions we can help answer.
Students with Allergies
We have been told our local Medical Health Officer that at the beginning of the school year, if a student displays the symptoms consistent with COVID-19 as listed in the COVID-19 Protocols for AP-432 Illness in Care, all steps in the policy should be followed beginning with the child staying at home, or if the child is at school, parents being contacted to pick up their child, and instructed to call 811 and follow the directions of the Health Officials.
The Health Official at 811 will ask the parent questions about their child’s symptoms, health history, recent activity, etc. to determine if testing is required. At times, parents may be communicating back to the school that 811 recommended their child did not need to be tested. This is not in contradiction with what we have been told by our MHO, as our instructions to parents should be consistent with “Call 811 and follow the directions of the Health Officials.”
If those steps are followed and when the student is cleared to return to school, please contact the school office first. Thank you again for your help.