As we prepare for faculty and staff to return to school on Thursday and students to return to school on Monday, we are updating our Covid-19 protocols in response to the spike in Covid-positive cases and to align with the latest guidance issued from the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.
Please review the guidance for masks, Covid-positive cases, and close contact below as you plan for our return to school.
Please note the updates for isolation period if you test positive and quarantine period + Covid-19 vaccination/Covid-19 booster if you are a close contact to a Covid-positive case. It is extremely important that each member of our Jacket family follow our established protocols in an effort to reduce spread and to help keep our faculty, staff, students and families safe and healthy.
Guidance for Masks
Based on the number of Covid-positive cases our employees and parents have self-reported to us as we prepare to return to school, masks will be required for staff and students when indoors and while on school buses when we return to school in January. We will monitor rates of transmission and adjust our mask procedures accordingly.
Guidance for Covid-positive Cases
If your child has tested positive for Covid, he/she should stay home stay at home and isolate for at least 5 days since symptoms began or since date of positive test if your child does not have symptoms.
Your child should remain home after 5 days if he/she continues to have a fever. Remaining at home is important to prevent transmitting infection to others. Your child must be symptom free and fever free without fever-reducing medication to return to school. Please do not send your child to school until his/her isolation period ends.
Your child does not need a negative test to end his/her isolation and return to school.
Guidance for Close Contact Exposure to a Covid-positive Case
Your child may need to stay at home if he/she has been exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid, or if he/she lives with someone who has been diagnosed with Covid.
If your child's COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date, he/she does not need to stay at home. Proof of vaccination may be required. To be considered fully vaccinated, students who are 18 & older must have received a Covid-19 booster dose or third dose OR have received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine within the last six months, or a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine within the last two months. Students between ages 5-17 must have received both doses of Pfizer vaccine.
- Your child should wear a mask around others for the next 10 days.
- 5 days after his/her exposure, he/she should be tested for COVID-19 to make sure he/she is not infected.
- If he/she develops symptoms, he/she should be tested, and stay home (see above for isolation instructions).
If your child is not fully vaccinated, he/she should stay at home for at 5 days and wear a mask around others for an additional five days. Five days after exposure, your child should be tested for COVID-19 to make sure he/she is not infected. If your child develops symptoms, he/she should be tested and stay home.
If you have questions about symptoms, exposure and/or whether your child should report to school, please click here to review our decision-making flowchart.
If you have questions about the new guidance, please do not hesitate to respond to this email or give us a call on Thursday at 662.615.0013.
Case Reporting
If your child is unable to come to school on Monday because he/she tested positive for Covid-19 OR he/she is identified as a close contact to a Covid-positive case, please complete the form at the link below to assist our school nurses.
Parent Reporting Form | Covid-19 & Return to School Updates (starkvillesd.com)
You may also notify your child's teacher(s), but please make sure you complete the form.
Our school district is fully committed to doing our part to protect the health and safety of our students, staff, and families. I sincerely appreciate your continued support of these efforts to help us stay safe together.
Sincerely,
Eddie Peasant, Supt.