Quarantine Learning Contingency Plans

District releases quarantine learning contingency plans

Walla Walla Public Schools has developed contingency plans for continued learning should individual students, classrooms or entire schools be required to quarantine if COVID outbreaks occur in schools. Note, fully vaccinated students do not have to quarantine unless they exhibit symptoms. Below are Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) addressing continued learning plans under different quarantine scenarios.

FAQ – WWPS QUARANTINE LEARNING PLAN

Q: When would my child need to quarantine?
A: Per WaDOH, if they are less than 3ft from an individual with COVID-19 for at least 15 cumulative minutes over a 24 hour period.

Q: How will I be notified?
A: Families will be notified personally if their child needs to quarantine and be provided instructions on monitoring, returning to school, and testing options that may expedite their return.

Q: How long will my child need to quarantine?
A: If your child is fully vaccinated, or recently recovered from COVID in the last 3 months, they do not need to quarantine unless they exhibit symptoms. All other students are recommended to quarantine for 14 days per WaDOH guidelines. Students may be permitted to return a few days earlier, if symptom free, and they test negative under the district’s testing protocols.

Q: How will my child's educational needs be met during quarantine?
A: Unless an entire classroom or school is required to quarantine, educational activities will be handled in a traditional out-of-school absence manner. This consists of daily work prepared by your child's classroom teacher(s) that is picked up at school, delivered to the home, or provided to the student electronically (e.g. via email or Google Classroom assignments).

Q: Under what circumstances will an entire classroom need to quarantine?
A: Per WaDOH, when multiple laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases among students occur in a classroom within a 14-day period, where transmission can be linked to in-classroom spread, entire classrooms may need to quarantine. This is more likely to occur at the elementary level since vaccines are not available to students under 12. Classroom quarantine at the secondary level would only impact non-vaccinated students.

Q: What would learning look like for a quarantined classroom?
A:

At the secondary level, whole class quarantine of all students would be rare due to the vaccination status of many middle and high school students. Under most classroom quarantine circumstances, non-vaccinated students would be sent home and receive individual educational activities provided by their teacher(s). Under an extremely rare condition, where all students in a class (vaccinated or not) are required to quarantine, the learning will consist of “zooming” to receive live instruction during their regularly scheduled in-person class time with their specific teacher. Under both scenarios, students will receive individual work from their remaining non-quarantined teachers/classes.

At the preschool/elementary levels, teachers will “Zoom” with students live from 8 to 9:30 a.m. to deliver age-appropriate instruction/experiences. In addition, teachers will also provide age-appropriate independent learning activities students/families can accomplish independently. Teachers will remain available throughout the day for student/family questions/support. Students receiving special education, language services, or other supports will be contacted to coordinate appropriate service delivery during their 14 day or less quarantine period.

Q: Under what circumstances would an entire school need to quarantine?
A: After consultation with local health officials, if there are multiple quarantined classrooms or uncontrolled viral spread at your child’s school, it may necessitate the entire school to quarantine for up to 14 days to ensure safety and curb transmission.

Q: What would learning look like for a quarantined school?
A:
• At the secondary level: Day 1-Family communication and technology pickup for specific families (WiFi hotspots, student Chromebooks left at school). Day 2-Learning plan commences where students will “Zoom” with their teacher and classmates per their current in-person bell schedule.

• At the elementary level: Day 1-Family communication and technology pick up at school for specific students/families. Day 2-Learning plan commences at 8 a.m. with live virtual learning as noted above. Additionally, other specialists provide learning/engagement options for students/families (e.g. school wide physical education activities, school wide music experiences, etc).

To learn more about quarantine processes, testing availability, and other school safety measures, visit the district’s Safely Back to School website at: https://www.wwps.org/safelyback