Test to Stay Implementation
Beginning September 13, 2021
In partnership with the Northern Kentucky Health Department, the Fort Thomas Schools will offer a Test to Stay strategy for all students that are impacted by school COVID exposures. In the guidance documentation from our health department, it states the following:
Schools are an essential part of community infrastructure and in-person instruction for K-12 students is a priority. The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on an optional modified strategy for managing COVID-19 exposures in the school setting. CDC guidelines emphasize the implementation of layered prevention strategies to protect students, teachers, and staff, which includes isolation of persons who test positive for COVID-19 as well as tracing of their close contacts and quarantine of unvaccinated contacts. This document outlines considerations for a “test to stay” strategy to allow unvaccinated students who are exposed to COVID-19 at school to continue in-person instruction and extracurriculars with repeated negative COVID-19 testing.
*** In-person instruction includes riding the bus or carpooling to/from school. ***
Close Contact:
An individual who is within 6 feet unmasked while indoors for over 15 minutes.
Exception: In the K-12 indoor classroom setting, the close contact definition excludes students who were at least 3 feet away from an infected student if both students correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time and other K-12 COVID-19 prevention strategies were in place.
Procedures Following an Exposure:
An individual will be identified as a close contact to a positive case.
Unvaccinated students who are identified as close contacts within a school setting will be instructed to:
While experiencing zero symptoms, quarantine for a period of 10 days with the option for early testing to reduce the quarantine to 8 days; OR
Participate in the Test to Stay Program
Fully vaccinated individuals with no symptoms do not need to quarantine.
Eligibility for Test to Stay Program:
Be entirely asymptomatic, without any signs of COVID;
Wear a mask while indoors even if test results are negative. A medical grade mask that securely fits to the face is preferred. When unmasking at lunch, the individual MUST be 6 ft. from others;
Have been exposed to the positive case at school only. This strategy applies to in-school-related exposures only and is not applicable to exposures that occur outside of school, during extra-curricular events or in the community (e.g., in a household). An unvaccinated household member of someone who has tested positive for COVID should still quarantine away from school; AND
Quarantine when not in school or participating in extracurriculars. The exposed individual must stay home and refrain from other activities in the community setting.
Quarantine may be discontinued with Test to Stay will occur after day 7 if the individual is symptom-free and receives a negative COVID test 5 days or later after the last date of exposure to the case
Test to Stay Protocol:
Testing will be performed each day the individual is in person at school
Testing will occur at Central Office, 28 North Fort Thomas Ave, each morning, from 7:15-8:30am.
Testing should be initiated as soon as possible after the identified exposure and all subsequent days following the exposure through day 5 after the last exposure. Testing and quarantine may be discontinued after day 7 if all test results have been negative.
Negative test results must be received prior to an individual returning in person to school.
If a test result is positive, the individual must be sent home to isolate immediately.
The test should be an FDE approved rapid antigen test to identify a current COVID infection and be performed by a FTIS employee or contractor.
Symptom screening will take place at time of testing.
Individuals who refuse to complete the daily testing will be sent home and will follow the standard quarantining protocol.
