• All staff will be required to complete a self-screening process prior to entering a Blue Ridge ISD building each day. The district may require further screening of employees at any time based on current state and federal guidelines.

• A parent or guardian will be required to screen their children for COVID-19 symptoms each day prior to sending them to school. Additional screening may be conducted during the school day if a student is displaying symptoms.

• Students, staff, and visitors to campuses will have their temperature screened.

• Parents must ensure they do not send a child to school on campus if the child has a fever/high temperature, has COVID-19 symptoms (see COVID-19 symptoms), or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19. Instead the parent should contact the child's school to receive instruction on how the student may begin learning at-home/asynchronous learning.

• Staff and students should not enter campuses or district buildings if any of the following apply. The individual is:

  • sick or has been sick in the past 14 days. Symptoms to watch for: fever (100.4 F or higher), cough, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.

  • has a confirmed case of COVID-19 or has been in close contact with a person with a confirmed case of COVID-19. These individuals must follow all isolation and quarantine guidelines from the local health authority or their physician.

  • has a household member who is awaiting COVID-19 test results, or who is awaiting their own test results

• Temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit when taken by mouth;

• Sore throat;

• New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergic/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline);

• Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain; or

• New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever

"Close contact" is currently defined as:

• a. being directly exposed to infectious secretions (e.g. being coughed on); or

• b. being within 6 feet for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes; however, additional factors like case/contact masking (i.e. both the infectious individual and and the potential close contact have been consistently and properly masked), ventilation, presence of dividers, and case symptomology may affect this determination.

Either (a) or (b) defines close contact if it occurred during the infectious period of the case, defined as two days prior to symptom onset to 10 days after symptom onset. In the case of asymptomatic individuals who are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, the infectious period is defined as two days. According to health officials, individuals with an IGG positive antibody test may not have to quarantine if close contact were determined.

• The area of the school that was heavily used by the person will be closed until it can be properly cleaned and sanitized.

• The district will notify the Collin County Health Department.

• The individual with the lab-confirmed case must stay home until:

  • At least one day (24 hours) have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications); AND

  • The individual has improvement in symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath); AND

  • At least ten days have passed since symptoms first appeared.

• The person will be isolated immediately until they can leave/be picked up

• The person may return to school when they have met the same three-step set of criteria listed above

• If the person wants to return before then, the person must:

  • Obtain a medical professional's note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis, or

  • Receive two (2) separate confirmations at least 24 hours apart that they are free of COVID-19 via acute infection tests at an approved COVID-19 testing location found at https://tdem.texas.gov/covid-19/

• "Close Contact" is per the definition listed above.

• The individual should stay home through the 14-day incubation period and should not return to campus.

  • Update December 4, 2020: Based on current CDC guidance, the stay-at-home period can end for individuals experiencing no symptoms:

    • On Day 10 after close contact exposure without testing

    • On Day 7 after close contact exposure and after receiving a negative test result

  • If individuals return to school from these shorter stay-at-home windows, they should regularly monitor themselves for symptoms to ensure they remain symptom-free and take appropriate precautions (e.g. more consistent mask usage) for the duration of the 14-day incubation period. BRISD may require a full 14 day quarantine depending on the circumstances (number of active cases, nature and length of close contact, etc.).

• The school will screen the individual after the incubation period has concluded. If the individual has not experienced any COVID-19 symptoms during that period, the individual can return to campus. If the individual experienced symptoms, they must stay home until the conditions outlined above have been met.

If an employee is identified as having close contact with a lab-confirmed case of COVID-19, they may or may not have to stay home. The CDC has advised that critical infrastructure services-which includes schools-may permit close contact staff members who are asymptomatic to continue to work in select instances when it is necessary to preserve school operations. When using this option, school systems may consider adding additional protocols to increase monitoring for these individuals, which might include the use of COVID-19 tests (e.g. on Day 3 and/or Day 7 after the close contact exposure.

• If an individual who has been in a school is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19, the school must notify its local health department, 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).

• Schools must close off areas that are heavily used by the individual with the lab-confirmed case (student, teacher, or staff) until the non-porous surfaces in those areas can be disinfected, unless more than 3 days have already passed since that person was on campus.

• Consistent with school notification requirements for other communicable diseases, and consistent with legal confidentiality requirements, schools must notify all teachers, staff, and families of all students in a school if a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case is identified among students, teachers, or staff who participate in any on campus activities.

• Elementary students will review hand washing practices each day. Secondary students will review hand washing practices weekly.

• Hand sanitizer will be available in each classroom and entry points. Students and staff shall use hand sanitizer upon entering and leaving a classroom.

• Students and staff should wash their hands for 20 seconds at least twice a day.

• As of March 15, 2021, face coverings are optional for students, staff, and visitors in district facilities, school buses, and school events. The district continues to encourage students and staff to take the precautions, including wearing face coverings, they feel comfortable with in light of COVID-19.

• Frequently touched points in the school will be disinfected regularly (this includes door handles, bathrooms, and table/desks)

• Extra cleaning crews will clean each classroom nightly.

• Each room will be cleaned using electrostatic sanitizing such as a Clorox 360 machine daily.

• Blue Ridge ISD encourages parents to drive their children to school to reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19

• Students riding the bus will use hand sanitizer upon entering the bus. Bus drivers will also use hand sanitizer.

• Students will have their temperature taken before boarding a bus.

• Bus drivers and all students, Pre-K- 12th grade, riding a bus will be required to wear a mask or cloth face covering while on the bus.

• Buses will be cleaned and sanitized after each trip.