COVID Information

If you have had close contact (being less than 6 feet from the confirmed COVID positive individual for 15 minutes or more throughout a 24-hour period), you need to quarantine if you are NOT fully vaccinated.

Individuals who are asymptomatic and up to date with all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including any booster dose(s) when eligible do NOT need to quarantine.

For EVERYONE who needs to quarantine:

• Non-household (individual with COVID does not live in the home):
  • Stay at home for at least five full days after your last close contact with someone with COVID-19. 
  • Count your last day of close contact with someone with COVID-19 as day zero.
  • Day one starts the day after your last close contact.
• Household (individual with COVID lives in the home):
  • If unable to isolate - 10 days quarantine followed by “test to stay” 5 days or 5-day quarantine
  • If able to isolate “test to stay” 5 days or 5-day quarantine

Positive COVID-19 cases are treated as a communicable illness and will be reported to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Isolation is required for individuals with confirmed positive cases. See the guidance for students and staff below.

Calculating Isolation
Day 0 is your first day of symptoms or a positive viral test. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed or your test specimen was collected. 

• If you tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status:
  • Stay home for at least 5 days
  • Stay home for 5 days and isolate from others in your home
  • Wear a well-fitted mask if you must be around others in your home
  •  Wear a well-fitted mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.
• Ending isolation if you had symptoms:
  • End isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication) and your symptoms are improving.
• Ending isolation if you did NOT have symptoms:
  • End isolation after at least 5 full days after your positive test.
• If you were severely ill with COVID-19
  • You should isolate for at least 10 days. Consult your doctor before ending isolation.
    • Take precautions until day 10:
      • Wear a well-fitted mask for 10 full days any time you are around others inside your home or in public. Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask.
      • Avoid travel
      • Avoid being around people who are at high risk

The Minnesota Department of Health recommends wearing a high-quality mask to help limit the spread of COVID-19, including variants like omicron. Examples of high-quality masks are N95 or KN95 masks, which are very good at blocking droplets. If you cannot get that type of mask, wear a well-fitting mask with at least two layers of tightly woven fabric. You can also layer a disposable mask under a cloth mask to increase effectiveness.

With schools at full capacity, social distancing won't always be feasible. However, schools will make an effort to social distance students and staff when there are opportunities. 

Building and Grounds staff members will continue to thoroughly clean our schools after each school day. Specialized cleaning will continue to occur for outbreaks of illnesses. Hand sanitizer stations will be available and everyone is asked to continue practicing good hand hygiene.

• Brooklyn Park
• MSP Airport
• Saint Paul-Midway

Visit COVID-19 Community Testing Sites for a list of operating hours and addresses and to make an appointment.

Public health officials recommend vaccinations for eligible individuals. If you require assistance in finding or scheduling a vaccination appointment, contact your school’s health office.

Additional vaccination clinics:

• For kids, visit the state's COVID-19 Vaccine for Children and Teens page.
• For adults, visit the state's Find COVID-19 Vaccine Locations page.
• COVID-19 vaccines and boosters may also be available at your local health care provider or pharmacy (Costco, Cub, CVS, Hy-Vee, Sam's Club, Walgreens, or Walmart).
• Community Care Clinics at 2139 N. 44th Ave., Minneapolis, MN, 55412. Walk-ins for all eligible age groups Mon-Sat 9-4.

For questions related to finding COVID-19 vaccination clinics, call the Minnesota Department of Health's COVID-19 hotline at 1-833-431-2053. The state's hotline is available weekdays (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and on Saturdays (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

• We are following American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) guidelines regarding COVID ventilation standards.

• We have installed MERV 13 filters (same as last year).

• We will be turning our HVAC systems on before and after school to purge the building with 100% outside air.

• We will be bringing in the maximum amount of outside air that the air handling unit can handle based on outside temperature outside air.

Field trips may occur throughout the school year. Individual venues may have health guidance in place that is more restrictive than our requirements.

Staff and students should monitor for COVID-like symptoms daily and are encouraged to stay home if not well.  COVID symptoms may include:  fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, fatigue, or loss of taste and smell.

Health staff will continue to implement best practices for separating ill students from healthy individuals as much as possible. For more information, contact the school nurse at your student's school.

Each school’s health office will return to illness protocols pre-pandemic. Sick students will be sent home if they have a fever (100.4 or above), vomiting, or diarrhea. Students with these symptoms will be expected to stay home for 24 hours after symptoms have subsided. All illnesses seen in the health office will be observed and assessed by a nurse as needed.

All staff and students should stay home when showing signs of illness.

The Safe Learning Plan (as detailed in the sections above) is continually updated based on input received and guidance from Dakota County Public Health, the Minnesota Department of Health and Education, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public input on our safe learning plan has been gathered through a variety of methods and forums. 

School Board
The school board conducts a monthly listening session prior to its first meeting of the month and a public comment session prior to the second meeting of the month. The board also closely monitors feedback received through the schoolboard@isd197.org email address along with each of the board members individual emails.  During the development of the various iterations of our Safe Learning Plans, the administration would share the plans with our community in a draft stage prior to sharing with the board.  This generated important community feedback for the board to consider as they approved plans.

Administration
In addition to reviewing and considering all input sent to the board, the district administration convened regular design team/feedback meetings with staff serving in a variety of roles.  During these meetings, the feedback from the community was shared.  Additionally, the design team members were charged with gathering and considering feedback from their sites and programs as we developed our safe learning plan.

Teaching and Support Staff
In that vein, the feedback (formal and informal) families provided to their classroom teachers and school/program staff was critical throughout our collective COVID journey.  The staff took this feedback very seriously and made both small and large changes to how they supported students as a result.

Strategic Framework and Community Surveys 
Right before the onset of the COVID pandemic, the district completed an extensive community input process to inform the development of a new strategic framework.  This framework, along with regular community-wide surveys grounded all the plans that were subsequently developed.  

Themes in the Public Comment
While specific suggestions varied significantly from person to person, here are the primary themes we heard.

• The critical importance of the health and safety of our students, staff, and community
• Health and safety are complex, requiring the need to balance physical health with social and emotional health.
• Regardless of the learning model, connections and learning needed to continue.
• Consistency with flexibility for families
• Appreciation for our staff and all the work they put into adapting to the ever-changing situation (for which we say thank you!)

If you want to provide public comment about the Safe Learning Plan, please CLICK HERE to send an email to our Communications Department.