Learning While Staying Healthy & Safe in 2022–2023
 
This webpage was last updated on August 29, 2022.
 
  • The pandemic is not over. We must remain vigilant, understanding, and compassionate. Not only do we have individuals in our community (students, employees, household members) who are immunocompromised, medically fragile, or otherwise at high risk for severe disease, potentially unsustainable faculty and staff shortages in 2022–2023 continue to be a concern. Individuals must continue to isolate at home when positive for covid for at least five days and potentially longer; this has the very real potential of requiring that we send a class, a grade, or even the whole school home.
  • Vaccinations against covid are now available for children six months old and older and are recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Vaccination is the best way to protect ourselves and those around us from becoming severely ill or having long-lasting health impacts due to covid.
  • As has been true since the start of this pandemic, our priorities in 2022–2023 will continue to be to mitigate risk in order to prevent the spread of the virus to the best of our ability while offering our harmonized, bilingual program through in-person learning whenever possible.
  • FASPS will remain a safe space for those individuals who wish to continue to mask, practice physical distance, test regularly, etc.
  • Click here to read the Washington State Department of Health’s “Requirements and Guidance to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission in K–12 Schools and Child Care,” updated August 5, 2022.
  • Click here to read the CDC’s “Operational Guidance for K–12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning,” updated August 11, 2022.
 

List of 13 frequently asked questions.

  • Disinfecting

    FASPS will continue to clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, faucet handles, check-in counters, drinking fountains, and restrooms.

  • Glossary of Terms

    • Antibody Test: Shows if a person has previously been infected with covid. Antibody tests are not used to diagnose current cases of covid.
    • Antigen Test: Includes point-of-care rapid antigen tests and over-the-counter rapid antigen tests. Antigen tests are used to diagnose cases of covid infection and can be used in screening of individuals without infection, providing a more rapid turn-around time for results than RT-PCR tests.
    • Close Contact: Someone who was within 6 feet of a covid case for 15 cumulative minutes or more over a 24-hour time period when the case was considered infectious. CDC acknowledges an exception to the definition of a close contact in the classroom setting when masks are worn.
    • Community Levels: CDC measure of the impact of covid illness on health and health care systems. The CDC looks at the combination of metrics to determine the covid community level as low, medium, or high.
    • Exposure Notification: Exposure notification is the communication of a potential exposure by text, email, phone call, or other method. This notice may come based on contact tracing or more generally because a person was in an area with someone who tests positive for covid. These notifications may occur regardless of length of exposure or distance between the individuals. As such, the notified individual may or may not meet the technical definition of a close contact.
    • Fully Vaccinated: An individual is fully vaccinated when they have received both doses in a two-dose covid vaccine primary series or one dose of a single-dose covid primary series approved or authorized for use in the United States.
    • Infectious Period: The time period when a person is most likely to spread the virus to other people. This term is synonymous with someone who is contagious. The infectious period of someone with covid starts two days before the start of symptoms. If someone with covid does not exhibit symptoms, their infectious period is estimated as starting two days before the test specimen collection date. The infectious period extends to the end of a person’s isolation period.
    • Isolation: When someone who has covid symptoms, or has tested positive, stays home and away from others (including household members) to avoid spreading their illness.
    • Local Health Jurisdiction (LHJ): The local county or district agency providing public health services to persons within the area.
    • Molecular Test: Molecular tests (also referred to as nucleic acid amplification, or NAAT tests) amplify bits of viral RNA so that viral infection can be detected. Includes the Reverse Transcription Polymerase-Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-based assays. Molecular tests are used to diagnose cases of covid infection including when someone has been exposed.
    • Outbreak: Multiple covid cases from positive viral tests comprising at least 10% of students, teachers, or staff within a specified core group, OR at least 3 cases within a specified core group meeting criteria for a covid case from a positive viral test, AND the following three criteria are met: 1) Cases have a symptom onset or positive test result within 14 days of each other, AND 2) There is no evidence that transmission was more likely to have occurred in another setting (e.g., household or outside social contact) outside of the school or childcare, AND 3) Cases were epidemiologically linked in the school or childcare setting or a school- or childcare-sanctioned extracurricular activity.
    • Point-of-care (POC) Test: Rapid diagnostic tests performed or interpreted by someone other than the individual being tested, such as a parent or guardian (can be NAAT, antigen, or antibody tests).
    • Quarantine: When someone who has been exposed to covid stays home and away from others for the recommended period of time in case they are infected and contagious. Quarantine is no longer required in schools but is still recommended guidance for the general public.
    • Serial Testing: Serial testing involves testing the same person more than once over a few days to increase the chances of detecting an infection which a single test might not detect.
    • Symptoms of Covid: Initial common symptoms include new loss of taste or smell, fever (higher than 100.4 F or 38 C), cough, and shortness of breath, as well as chills, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea, and diarrhea.

  • Handwashing

    FASPS will continue to encourage frequent handwashing and good respiratory etiquette to prevent spreading and contracting covid and other infectious diseases.

  • Isolation

    Regardless of vaccination status, all students and employees who test positive for covid are required to isolate. Additionally, you should isolate if you are sick and suspect that you have covid but do not yet have test results. If your test results are positive, follow the isolation requirements below:
     
    • If you have no symptoms, your Day 0 is the day you were tested (not the day you received your positive test result). Day 1 is the first full day following the day you were tested. If you develop symptoms within 10 days of when you were tested, the clock restarts at Day 0 on the day of symptom onset. If you have no symptoms during your isolation, you may end isolation after Day 5.
    • If you have symptoms, your Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when you tested positive. Day 1 is the first full day after the day your symptoms started. You may end isolation after Day 5 if you are fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication), and your symptoms are improving. If you still have fever or your other symptoms have not improved, continue to isolate through Day 10.
    • Individuals (two years old and older) must continue to mask for an additional five days (days 6–10) if they return to school after the end of their five-day isolation period. Students and employees who are unable to mask should continue to isolate for the full 10 days.
    • Students younger than two may return to school after five days of isolation if they are symptom free and test negative on any day on or after Day 6 (email negative test result to CovidTeam@FASPS.org).
    All students and employees who test positive using antigen or at-home tests toward the end of the full five days of isolation (and/or on Days 6–10) are required to complete the full 10 days of isolation.
     
    Where feasible, FASPS will separate the designated isolation space for individuals with covid-like symptoms from the space used for those needing general first aid or medicine distribution.

  • Masking

    • Masking will not be required at FASPS but will remain optional.
    • Wearing a well-fitting mask consistently and correctly reduces the risk of spreading the virus that causes covid.
    • Students and employees who have known or suspected exposure to covid should wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days from their last exposure, regardless of vaccination status or history of prior infection.
    • All employees providing care or evaluation to isolated individuals are required to wear appropriate PPE.
    • All students and employees are required to mask in the isolation area.
    • CDC recommends masking for high-risk individuals in schools when the Covid Community Level is medium or high (King County), and universal indoor masking in schools when the Covid Community Level is high (King County).
    • Indoor mask wearing is recommended for an identified group at school when there is an outbreak of covid in that group.
    • FASPS may require indoor masking when there is a risk of widespread outbreaks at school.
    • During athletic team outbreaks, athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and other support personnel should wear masks when participating in indoor activities. Masking may be required at times.
    • During a group outbreak in performing arts, high aerosol producing performers should wear appropriate masks and/or use appropriate bell covers while practicing or performing. Masking may be required at times.
    • FASPS will not monitor parent masking preferences for their student(s).

  • Notification

    • Parents must email FASPS’s Covid Team whenever their students test positive for covid.
    • FASPS will continue to inform families when there are cases or outbreaks at school via the Friday Flash, email notifications, etc.
    • FASPS is required to notify employees of (potential) exposure.
    • FASPS is required to report all covid cases, outbreaks, and suspected outbreaks to the LHJ.
    • FASPS is required to notify the LHJ about outbreaks of 10 or more employees at school.

  • Outbreaks

    • FASPS is required to respond to outbreaks with recommended and/or required enhanced mitigation efforts in order to prevent the spread of covid.
    • If feasible, FASPS will move activities such as lunch, PE, and large-group gatherings outdoors when there are ongoing outbreaks in school.

  • (Potential) Exposure

    • Students and employees who are (potentially) exposed to covid will not be required to quarantine.
    • There will be no “modified quarantine.”
    • All students and employees who are (potentially) exposed to covid should monitor for symptoms, test as soon as possible after exposure, and repeat testing every 24–48 hours through at least the first five days after exposure.
    • All students and employees who have symptoms of covid are required to stay / go home and should get tested and/or see a health care provider and follow FASPS’s health policy (see Parent Handbook).

  • Quarantining

    • Students and employees who are (potentially) exposed to covid are no longer required to quarantine (or modified quarantine).
    • FASPS will no longer participate in the Test to Stay program.
    • Students and employees who are (potentially) exposed to covid may continue to take part in all in-person instruction and care (includes sports, performing arts, and other extracurricular activities) as long as they do not have symptoms or test positive.

  • Symptomatic Individuals

    • Click here for symptoms of covid.
    • All students and employees who have symptoms of covid at home are required to stay home and should get tested and/or see a health care provider and follow FASPS’s health policy (see Parent Handbook) accordingly.
    • All students and employees who report or have covid-like symptoms at school are required to be immediately isolated from others, sent home, and referred to diagnostic testing as soon as possible, regardless of vaccination status. While waiting to leave school, individuals with symptoms are required to be isolated and wear masks (two years old and older).
    • FASPS is required to ensure access to timely diagnostic testing for students and employees who have covid-like symptoms or who were potentially exposed and want to test (this includes distributing self-tests for home use and partnering with a trusted and accessible community-based testing provider).

  • Testing

    • FASPS will no longer conduct surveillance testing. That said, at a high Covid Community Level, FASPS may consider implementing surveillance / screening testing for students and employees for high-risk activities and/or at key times of the year (e.g., before and/or after large events), and when returning from breaks.
    • FASPS will ensure access to timely diagnostic testing for students and employees who have covid-like symptoms or who were potentially exposed and want to test (this includes distributing self-tests for home use and partnering with a trusted and accessible community-based testing provider).
    • FASPS highly recommends all students and employees self-test at home every Sunday evening or Monday morning before returning to campus that week. Continue to order your free antigen tests monthly at the following websites while supplies last: www.covid.gov/tests & www.sayyescovidhometest.org. Click here for a full list of FDA-approved at-home covid tests and their up-to-date expiration dates. Please email CovidTeam@FASPS.org if you need antigen tests.
    • All students and employees who are continuously exposed at home, regardless of vaccination status, should test every 24–48 hours until five days after the last positive household member’s isolation has ended.
    • FASPS may use existing testing program infrastructure to implement testing protocols that ensure safe, uninterrupted, full-time, in-person learning, including but not limited to testing people who are exposed during outbreaks in specific cohorts (such as classrooms, teams, performing arts, and clubs), testing during household exposures, and exposure testing of individuals who are at high risk for severe disease.
    • The CDC recommends screening for events and after breaks, for higher risk activities like sports and performing arts, and for testing those working with vulnerable students or children.
    • Testing in indoor athletics, performing arts, and other higher-risk activities is recommended if the team or group was exposed to covid or there is a team or group outbreak.

  • Testing Positive

    • All students and employees who test positive for covid are required to isolate at home for five full days — and potentially 10 — regardless of vaccination status.
    • FASPS will not contact trace.

  • Vaccination Against Covid

    • The CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend and FASPS encourages covid vaccinations for everyone six months old and older in consultation with their health care provider.
    • In support of our partnership with the SJCC, we will adhere to their policies regarding vaccination status as posted on their website (click here). To summarize, vaccinations are required to enter the SJCC except for those individuals with medical exemptions. Unvaccinated students with medical exemptions will be required to submit proof of a negative covid test weekly. Unvaccinated students with no medical exemption will be required to submit proof of a negative covid test on the day of their visit. Parents should expect to perform these tests at home and submit them to Health@FASPS.org prior to their student’s visit to the SJCC.
    • Parents should email any student’s updated covid vaccination status to Health@FASPS.org.
    • Employees, volunteers, and indoor contractors are required to be fully vaccinated or have a medical or religious exemption; vaccination status must be disclosed to FASPS by emailing VictoriaP@fasps.org.Student vaccination status must be disclosed to FASPS by emailing Health@fasps.org.
    • Click here for the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) school and childcare vaccination requirements for 2022–2023.
    • Click here to find a vaccination clinic offering back-to-school immunizations.

FASPS