Management of Ill persons, Contact Tracing and Monitoring

The school requires students, faculty, or staff members who develop COVID-19 symptoms during the school day to report to the Nurse’s Office. If there are several students waiting to see the school nurse, students must wait at least 6 feet apart. The school has designated areas to separate individuals with symptoms of COVID- 19 from others until they can go home or to a healthcare facility, depending on severity of illness. One area will be used to treat injuries, provide medications or nursing treatments, and the other area will be used for assessing and caring for ill students and staff. Both areas will be supervised by an adult and have easy access to a bathroom and sink with hand hygiene supplies. 

According to the CDC (as of August 7, 2020) people with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

We have created an isolation room (former Faith Formation Office in the Main Building and the Professional Development room in the ECEC) that is separate from the Nurse’s Office which can be used to contain a child with suspected symptoms until a parent/guardian arrives to take the child home.  Staff members will be sent home.  If a staff member is too ill to drive themselves home, he/she will wait in the isolation room until a ride can be arranged.  

PPE requirements for school health office staff caring for sick individuals includes both standard and transmission-based precautions. In areas with moderate to substantial community transmission, eye protection (e.g., goggles or face shield) should be added. When caring for a suspect or confirmed individual with COVID-19, gloves, a gown, eye protection, and a fit-tested N-95 respirator will be used, if available. If an N-95 respirator is not available, a surgical face mask and face shield will be used.

School health office cleaning will occur after each use of cots, bathrooms, and health office equipment (e.g., blood pressure cuffs, otoscopes, stethoscopes). Health office equipment will be cleaned following manufacturer’s directions.

Disposable items will be used as much as possible (e.g., disposable pillow protectors, disposable thermometers, disposable thermometer sheaths or probes, disposable otoscope specula).

Aerosol Generating Procedures

Respiratory treatments administered by nurses generally result in aerosolization of respiratory secretions. These aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) potentially put healthcare personnel and others at an increased risk for pathogen exposure and infection. St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School requires the following PPE to be worn during AGPs: gloves, N-95 or a surgical mask with face shield, eye protection and a gown. PPE will be used when: suctioning, administering nebulizer treatments, or using peak flow meters with students who have respiratory conditions. 

Treatments such as nebulized medication treatments and oral or tracheostomy suctioning will be conducted in a room separate from others with nursing personnel wearing appropriate PPE. For nebulizer treatments, if developmentally appropriate, the nurse will leave the room and return when the nebulizer treatment is finished. 

Cleaning of the room will occur between use and cleaning of the equipment should be done following manufacturer’s instructions after each use.  

If Students or Staff become Ill with Symptoms of COVID-19 at School

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School requires students or staff with a temperature, signs of illness, and/or a positive response to the questionnaire to be sent directly to a dedicated isolation area where students are supervised, prior to being picked up or otherwise sent home. Students will be supervised in the isolation area while awaiting transport home and will be separated by at least 6 feet. Students will be escorted from the isolation area to their parent/guardian. Students or staff will be referred to a healthcare provider and provided resources on COVID-19 testing.

Return to School After Illness

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School has established protocols and procedures, in consultation with the Schenectady County Department of Health about the requirements for determining when individuals, particularly students, who screened positive for COVID-19 symptoms can return to the in-person learning environment at our school. This protocol includes:

1. Documentation from a health care provider following evaluation 
2. Negative COVID-19 diagnostic test result 
3. Symptom resolution, or if COVID-19 positive, release from isolation 

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will refer to DOH’s “Interim Guidance for Public and Private Employees Returning to Work Following COVID-19 Infection or Exposure” regarding protocols and policies for faculty and staff seeking to return to work after a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 or after the faculty or staff member had close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School requires that individuals who were exposed to the COVID-19 virus complete quarantine and have not developed symptoms before returning to in-person learning. The discharge of an individual from quarantine and return to school will be conducted in coordination with the local health department.

COVID-19 Testing

Students:  If a child is sent home with COVID-19 symptoms, the School Nurse will follow up with the family.  In the case of a positive test, isolation and quarantine at home will be required.  The Schenectady County Department of Health will be contacted by the School Nurse or School Principal.  Staff or students will not be allowed to return to school until given written permission from their health care provider.  

Students with a COVID-19 positive diagnosis will be directed to follow their health care provider’s instructions regarding care, isolation, and quarantine.  St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will coordinate with the Schenectady County Department of Health to ensure that staff are eligible to return to work.  

Staff:. If an employee tests positive for COVID-19, the staff member will be required to contact the Schenectady County Department of Health AND their own County Department of Health if the staff member resides in a county other than Schenectady. Regardless of whether the employee is symptomatic or asymptomatic, the employee may return to work upon completing at least 10 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms or 10 days of isolation after the first positive test if they remain asymptomatic. If an employee has had close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time AND is experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms, the employee may return to work upon completing at least 10 days of isolation from the onset of symptoms. If an employee has had close or proximate contact with a person with COVID-19 for a prolonged period of time AND is not experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms, the employee may return to work upon completing 14 days of self-quarantine.

Individuals with a COVID-19 positive diagnosis will be directed to follow their health care provider’s instructions regarding care, isolation, and quarantine.  St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will coordinate with the Schenectady County Department of Health to ensure that staff are eligible to return to work.  

Contact Tracing

The school will notify the state and Schenectady County Department of Health  immediately upon being informed of any positive COVID-19 diagnostic test result by an individual within school facilities or on school grounds, including students, faculty, staff, and visitors. 

To assist the local health department with tracing the transmission of COVID-19, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will assist with contact tracing with the Schenectady County Department of Health using tools provided through the New York State Contact Tracing Program.  

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will:

1. Keeping accurate attendance records of students and staff members.
2. Ensuring student schedules are up to date. 
3. Keeping a log of any visitor which includes date and time, and where in the school they visited.

If COVID-19 cases are discovered in the school, in consultation with the Schenectady County Department of Health, the Niskayuna School Health Department, and the RCDA Catholic Schools Office, St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will initiate a quarantine of affected classrooms or a full school closure.  

Confidentiality must be maintained as required by federal and state laws and regulations. School staff should not try to determine who is to be excluded from school based on contact without guidance and direction from the Schenectady County Department of Health.  

For more information about how COVID-19 containment efforts will be communicated to students, families and staff members, visit the Communication/Family and Community Engagement section of our reopening plan.

School Closures

A closure refers to contingency plans, protocols, and procedures for decreasing the scale or scope of in- person education and/or closing the school. The school will collaborate with the local health department to determine the parameters, conditions or metrics (e.g., increased absenteeism or increased illness in school community) that will serve as early warning signs that positive COVID-19 cases may be increasing beyond an acceptable level. 

St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish School will use the following metrics to determine a school closure: 

• St. Kateri Parish School’s Principal, in consultation with the Schenectady County Department of Health, The Niskayuna School District Health Department, and the RCDA Catholic Schools Office,  will consider closing school if absentee rates affect the ability of the school to operate safely.
• St. Kateri Parish School may choose to modify operations prior to closing to help mitigate a rise in cases. If infection rates are rising above 5%; consider modifying school operations for medically vulnerable students and staff if they are participating in in-person activities.
• Should a closure be warranted, St. Kateri Parish School will operate its educational programming remotely.  Food Service will continue through the North Colonie School District Nutrition and Food Services.  The office will operate at reduced capacity.  
• St. Kateri Parish School will close if the regional infection rate rises over 9% after Aug. 1. Schools will close if the 7-day rolling average of the infection rate is above 9%.
• Schools in regions in Phase 4 can reopen if the daily infection rate remains below 5 percent using a 14-day average, unless otherwise directed from the Schenectady County Department of Health
• If the infection rate rises about 9%, schools must wait until the 14-day average is below 5%
• St. Kateri Parish School’s Principal, in consultation with the Schenectady County Department of Health, The Niskayuna School District Health Department, and the RCDA Catholic Schools Office,  will consider re-opening when appropriate metrics have been met.  

For more information about how school closure information will be communicated to students, families and staff members, visit the Communication/Family and Community Engagement section of our reopening plan.