Health Safety
The health and safety of all students and staff has been and will continue to be a high priority and closely monitored. Once face to face instruction begins, please keep your child home if they are not feeling well and/or have been exposed to someone with COVID-like symptoms.
Symptoms of COVID-19-like illness include cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, new loss of taste or smell, fever, chills or shaking chills, muscle aches, sore throat, headache, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, and congestion or runny nose.
If students at school present with any COVID-like symptoms:
· Students will be isolated immediately.
· Parents/Guardians will be called for immediate pick up. Always have an emergency plan in place including all updated contact information provided to the front office staff.
· A contact tracing list will be established, and any student/staff that is considered a close contact will be notified and required to follow all quarantine protocols.
· Parents/Guardians may check the FCPS health metrics dashboard, which will allow the public to track COVID-19 cases by school (student or staff), County, or state. The dashboard can be viewed at https://www.fcps.org/update/dashboard.
Health Room Procedures
If any student experiences signs or symptoms of illness, major injuries, and/or requires immediate attention, staff will call and communicate the nature of the visit before sending to the health room. The health room staff will then provide specific instruction based on information obtained. This will also allow health room staff time to prepare for students being sent for illness vs. injury while maintaining social distancing and application of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) per protocol. This may include gloves, gown, face shield/goggles, and/or a reusable respirator. Please encourage your child to report any health needs to a staff member before communicating and arranging any pick up from school using their cell phone. This is not only important for tracking/monitoring illnesses/injuries at school but more importantly to provide them with the necessary interventions in a timely manner.
Daily medications should be administered at home to the extent possible. If students require medication or treatments during the school day, please call the health room to set up an appointment time to drop off completed Medication Authorization Forms and all medication/supplies needed.
Yellow confidential health information cards will be coming home with all students returning for face to face instruction. Please fill them out and send back to school as soon as possible.
Anytime your child is absent from school due to illness, please be sure to notify the front office, your child’s teacher and the health room.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. We are in this together and will continue to monitor for changes that are necessary to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff.