COVID-Related Protocols

School Attendance

If you are in any doubt about whether to send your child to school, please err on the side of caution and keep your child at home.

Symptomatic Students

When a student or staff member has one or more symptom(s) of COVID-19, they must stay home from school/work and get a PCR or molecular test to rule out COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status. Symptoms include:

● Fever (100°F/37.8°C or higher)

● Cough

● Difficulty breathing

● Severe headache

● Loss of taste or smell

● Sore throat

● Vomiting

● Diarrhea

Symptomatic students and staff members must isolate and may not return for in-person instruction until they have met ALL of the following CDPH criteria:

● At least 24 hours have passed since resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications; AND

● Other symptoms have improved; AND

● They have a negative PCR or molecular test for SARS-CoV-2, OR a healthcare provider has provided documentation that the

symptoms are typical of their underlying chronic condition OR a healthcare provider has confirmed an alternative named diagnosis, OR at least 10 days have passed since symptom onset.

Reporting Procedures

If your student has a confirmed case of COVID please notify the school immediately via phone (650 259 3850) or email (jlawrence@burlingameschools.org).

If your student is a close contact of someone with a confirmed case of COVID please contact the school immediately via phone (650 259 3850) or email (jlawrence@burlingameschools.org).

BSD Sick At School Guidelines

Symptoms Exhibited at School

If your child exhibits any of the symptoms outlined above we will ask you to come and collect your child and keep them at home according to the procedures listed in the section below on Exposure.

If your child has allergies or other diagnosed conditions that may look like any of the symptoms listed above please contact the school to discuss providing medical evidence and protocols for distinguishing symptoms.

Children exhibiting COVID symptoms will be housed in the Isolation Area until they are collected. Children in the Isolation Area will be monitored by a staff member.

Procedures for Picking Up a Sick Child

  • You will be contacted by telephone using the first contact that you provided to us at registration.

  • If this contact does not respond immediately we will use the second contact, and then any other contact provided at registration.

  • You will be asked to pick up your child from school without delay. Please make sure that you have arrangements in place to be able to pick up a sick child from school in a timely manner.

  • On arrival at school please ring the buzzer and wait at the main school door. Your child will be escorted to the door.

  • Please follow procedures outlined above for symptomatic students.

CDC Coronavirus Self Checker

Click here for the CDC Coronavirus Self Checker

Exposure/Quarantine

BSD has a system in place to notify parents/guardians when there is a positive case of COVID-19 at their school site.

BSD has staff responsible for case investigation and identifying close contacts when someone diagnosed with COVID-19 has been on campus during their infectious period. Parents/guardians of close contacts will be notified by email and given instructions regarding quarantine protocols. In addition, all members of the school community will be notified via email when there’s been a positive case of COVID-19 on campus. Following any report of a positive COVID-19 case on campus, District COVID-19 Liaisons work directly with county officials to report positive cases and ensure proper protocols are being followed.

Quarantine Protocols

Note: Close contacts are individuals who have spent more than 15 minutes (cumulatively) over a 24-hour period within 0-6 feet indoors of a COVID-19 positive individual.

School Exposure

BSD has a system in place to immediately notify parents/guardians once they are made aware of a positive case of COVID-19 at their school site. Following any report of a positive COVID-19 case on campus, District COVID-19 Liaisons work directly with county officials to report positive cases and ensure proper protocols are being followed.


When there’s an exposure at school, the quarantine protocol varies depending on the situation. Quarantine instructions will differ based on vaccination status & masking compliance.

Asymptomatic, unvaccinated students exposed to COVID-19 may qualify for a modified quarantine, provided they meet criteria listed in the K-12 Guidance. If the positive individual and exposed individual were both wearing masks, then the exposed student may continue attending school if they are asymptomatic, continue masking and undergo twice weekly testing, although they may not attend any other school or community activities for 10 days.

We plan to offer on-site testing using the Abbott BinaxNOW Rapid Antigen Test. We will test the exposed students twice-weekly for 10 days. We do need a consent filled out to be able to do this, register your child using this link - BINAX.

For details regarding modified quarantine, please refer to page 22 of the San Mateo County Office of Education Pandemic Recovery Framework.

If either the positive individual or exposed student/staff member was not wearing a mask, then your site COVID-19 Liaison will provide instructions regarding quarantine.

If siblings of students with a positive case of COVID are unvaccinated and live in the same household, they must quarantine as it is assumed that they were exposed to COVID.


Asymptomatic, fully vaccinated close contacts should be tested 3-5 days following a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result. These guidelines (which were recently updated) are available online here.

*People are considered fully vaccinated 2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.

Symptomatic students with a negative Abbott BinaxNow Rapid Antigen Test must be assessed by the Principal and at least one other site personnel. If the student is deemed symptomatic by 2 different people, this student will be sent home and asked to quarantine until ALL of the following CDPH Criteria are met:

● At least 24 hours have passed since resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications

● Other symptoms have improved

● They have a negative PCR or molecular test for SARS-CoV-2, OR a healthcare provider has provided documentation that the symptoms are typical of their underlying chronic condition OR a healthcare provider has confirmed an alternative named diagnosis


Household Exposure

The CDC recently announced changes to its guidance for fully vaccinated people: fully vaccinated people should be tested 3-5 days following a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result. The updated guidelines are available online here.

Unvaccinated students and staff members will need to follow quarantine procedures when a member of their household tests positive for COVID-19.


Return to School

Students or staff members who have been COVID positive do not need a negative COVID test in order to return to school. All that is required to return is that the positive person quarantine for 10 days, and then be fever-free with improving symptoms for 24 hours. In fact, the positive person may continue to test positive for COVID for 90 days after the first positive, so a COVID test is not helpful in determining whether or not they are still infected. Should your child need to quarantine please work directly with your Principal for short-term independent study.

Travel

Please see the table and flyer below for CDC recommendations and requirements concerning travel.

CA-is-Open-Travel-Guidelines.pdf