The health and safety of CSISD staff and students is a top priority. Students and staff should self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms regularly and individuals who present with symptoms should stay home.

All CSISD staff should self-screen for COVID-19 symptoms prior to reporting to work each day.
Parents/guardians should screen their students for COVID-19 symptoms each day prior to sending their student to school, and students with symptoms should not attend school.
Teachers will monitor students and refer to the nurse if symptoms are present.
Screening includes consideration about whether the individual has recently begun experiencing any of the following in a way that is not normal for them.

Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.0° F
Loss of taste or smell
Cough
Difficulty breathing
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Headache
Chills
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Shaking or exaggerated shivering
Significant muscle pain or ache
Diarrhea
Nausea or vomiting

Students or Staff Displaying COVID-19 Symptoms

When a student is displaying symptoms of COVID-19 at school, the school nurse will provide a clinical assessment to determine if and when a student needs to be sent home
Students who are ill will be separated from their peers and should be picked up within 1 hour from the time the campus contacted the student’s parent/guardian
One of the following conditions must be met for students who are sent home due to suspected COVID-19 to return to school:

Follow the Return to School protocols, or
Provide proof of lab-confirmed negative test results for COVID-19, or
Provide an alternative diagnosis with a recommendation to return from a licensed physician

Staff who are actively sick with COVID-19, suspected of being actively sick with COVID-19, or who have received a positive test result for COVID-19 must follow the Return to School protocols for staff
Local COVID-19 Testing Sites: http://www.brazoshealth.org/node/104
CSISD offers a rapid testing program for district employees. You can access more information about the employee rapid testing program here: LINK

Quarantine Protocols

Close contact determinations are generally based on guidance outlined by the CDC, which notes that individuals who are fully vaccinated may not need to follow the stay-at-home period. Although CSISD does not conduct COVID-19 contact tracing, notifications are provided to those who may have been exposed to an individual with COVID-19 as detailed in the notification section of this document.

Individuals who know that they were in close contact with a person who is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 should monitor for symptoms and may opt to stay at home during the recommended stay-at-home period.

Staff or students may choose to quarantine after being identified as a close contact with someone who is test-confirmed to have COVID-19:

Staff and students are not required to quarantine after being in close contact with someone who has COVID-19 unless they begin experiencing symptoms.
Staff who know they were in close contact with someone who is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 who choose to quarantine must notify their supervisor and follow CSISD procedures for leaves and absences in accordance with board policy and the CSISD Employee Handbook.
Employees who know that they have been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual must participate in rapid testing periodically for 5 days post-exposure, with testing on the 5th day recommended. It is the employee’s responsibility to report for testing and follow these expectations.

CSISD offers a rapid testing program for district employees. You can access more information about the employee rapid testing program here: LINK

COVID-19 Notifications

If an individual who has been in a school is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19, the district will notify the local health department and the Department of State Health Services, in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, including confidentiality requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

The District maintains a COVID-19 dashboard (LINK) to provide daily information regarding all staff and student cases by location across the district. This dashboard serves as notice of positive cases to all teachers, staff and families of a case on campus.

Additionally, notification of lab-confirmed cases in a classroom or extracurricular or after-school program will be provided through the following methods:

Families and staff at the elementary level will be notified when there is a positive case in their student’s homeroom class.
Families and staff at the secondary level (grades 5-12) will be notified via a campus specific dashboard that provides information about daily new cases by teacher and class period. These dashboards will be publicly available on each campus website beginning on Monday, August 23.

At-Home Testing

While rapid home testing is readily available for COVID-19, health officials recommend that individuals who test positive with an at-home test confirm their results through a PCR test. Individuals can find more information about local COVID-19 Testing Sites at the following link: http://www.brazoshealth.org/node/104

Confirmed cases for the purpose of notification include the following:

A lab report with the individual’s name indicating a positive result
A physician’s written diagnosis

Home tests without a physician’s diagnosis are not considered confirmed cases for the purposes of reporting and notification.

Regardless of testing status, individuals symptomatic for COVID-19 must follow requirements of the CSISD COVID-19 Mitigation & Response Protocols to return to school/work, including isolation for the specified time period.

COVID-19 Positive Return to Work/School Protocols

In the event that a CSISD teacher, staff, or student is lab confirmed positive for COVID-19, they must stay at home throughout the infectious period.

Students

In accordance with the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) rule, students who have COVID-19 will not be allowed to return to work/school as specified below:

COVID-19 with Symptoms:

At least 10 days have passed since their symptom onset and
24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and
Other symptoms have improved

Note: loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation

COVID-19 without Symptoms:

10 days have passed since positive test sample was taken

Staff

Staff who are actively sick with COVID-19, suspected of being actively sick with COVID-19, or who have received a positive test result for COVID-19 may return when:

If symptomatic, at least 5 days have passed since symptom onset, and fever free*, and other symptoms have improved.
For those with no symptoms, at least 5 days after the day they tested positive.

*Fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever suppressing medications. Fever is a temperature of 100° Fahrenheit (37.8° Celsius) or higher.

The first day of symptoms or the date of the positive test (if asymptomatic) is day zero for the purpose of calculating the date of reentry.

Staff who are test-confirmed to have COVID-19 are required to report their case to Human Resources (ndixon@csisd.org) and coordinate leave during isolation. Supplemental employee leave (up to 10 days) is available for employees who are test-confirmed to have COVID-19 or are caring for an immediate family member who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

False Positives:

If an individual has tested positive for COVID-19 and believes the test was a false positive, and wants to return to school before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either:

(a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis, though for health privacy reasons the note does not need to indicate what the alternative diagnosis is, or

(b) obtain two PCR acute infection tests (at a physician’s office, approved testing location, or other site) at least 24 hours apart that come back negative for COVID-19. Local COVID-19 Testing Sites: http://www.brazoshealth.org/node/104

Protocols for Face Coverings

While the use of face coverings is not required, CSISD strongly encourages students and staff to wear face coverings - especially during periods of time where we are seeing a surge of positive cases in our community.

Protocols for Disinfecting and Hand Sanitizing

Frequent disinfection and hand sanitization will ensure health and wellness of students and staff.

Hand sanitizer will be available at the main entries to campuses, in classrooms, in the cafeteria and in common areas throughout the campus.
Staff will be expected to regularly wash and/or sanitize their hands.
Students will be encouraged to wash their hands and/or use hand sanitizer.
Staff will have access to disinfectant to sanitize high-touch and working surfaces and shared objects regularly at their discretion.

Campus Cleaning

Custodial staff are trained in proper cleaning and sanitation techniques of high touch surfaces and areas and specialized equipment. The following mitigation measures are in place with cleaning of CSISD facilities:

High touch areas will be cleaned daily using hospital grade disinfectant
Following the report of a COVID-19 case or suspected case, all affected classrooms, campus offices, and restrooms will be disinfected/fogged using Vital Oxide
Masks and gloves will be available for custodians during work hours
The cafeteria will be cleaned between lunch periods

Additional Cleaning for COVID-19 Positive Cases

If a classroom or facility is closed due to COVID-19 spread, hospital grade disinfectant/fogging will be used. Any areas heavily used by the lab-confirmed case will be closed off until the non-porous surfaces can be disinfected, unless more than 3 days have passed since that person was on campus.

Additional Measures for Disease Mitigation

Plexiglass shields will be available in areas of high contact (e.g., receptionists).

Child Nutrition

Additional measures in school cafeterias include:

Child‌ ‌Nutrition‌ ‌Employees‌ ‌are‌ ‌required‌ ‌to‌ ‌wear‌ ‌gloves‌ ‌during‌ ‌food‌ ‌prep‌ ‌and‌ service.‌ ‌Face‌ ‌shields‌ ‌and/or‌ ‌masks‌ ‌are‌ ‌optional.‌ ‌Cashiers‌ ‌may‌ ‌also‌ ‌be‌ ‌behind‌ a‌ ‌plexiglass‌ ‌barrier.‌ ‌
Hand‌ ‌sanitizer‌ ‌will‌ ‌be‌ ‌available‌ ‌for‌ ‌student‌ ‌use.‌ ‌
Cafeteria‌ ‌tables‌ ‌will‌ ‌be‌ ‌cleaned‌ ‌between‌ ‌lunch‌ ‌periods.‌ ‌
There‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌touch-free‌ ‌option‌ ‌available‌ ‌for‌ ‌payment.‌

Transportation

CSISD is committed to safely transporting students that are eligible to and from school. Registration is required for transportation to and from school to assist in better route planning.

To ensure CSISD provides the safest and cleanest environment possible we will:

Deep clean with the use of disinfectant will be done as needed.

Make masks and/or face shields available for drivers and bus monitors.

Provide hand sanitizer at the entrance of each bus for use by staff and students for on/off boarding.

Open roof hatches and windows as weather permits.

Extracurricular Activities

Practices and contests will be conducted following safety protocol provided by guidance from UIL and TEA.

The most recent guidance from UIL is available at https://www.uiltexas.org/policy/2021-22-policy-info/2021-2022-uil-risk-mitigation-guidelines

Hand sanitizing stations will be in gym facilities and equipment will be sanitized on a regular basis.