Infection, Exposure, Quarantine

    • Isolation: When a patient tests positive for COVID19, they are placed in isolation until their contagion period expires and/or they are capable of returning to normal activities. Individuals who are asymptomatic are typically placed in isolation for at least 10 days. Those showing symptoms will remain in isolation until symptoms resolve. Students and staff may not return to campus until they have been released by a medical professional.
    • Exposure: Upon notification of a positive case within a school community, school and district officials will work in consultation with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department on a case-by-case basis to determine any “close contacts” who may have been exposed to COVID-19. In general, per the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, anyone who is within six feet of a person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or longer will be considered a close contact, regardless of mask usage. 
    • Quarantine: If a person has been exposed, or believed to have been exposed, to COVID-19, they are placed in quarantine to see if they develop symptoms. Depending upon duration of exposure and social distancing, there may be times that an entire class or all students who rode on the same bus will be required to quarantine. (See Appendix R)
    • Students and staff members who go home after having a temperature of 100.4°F or greater, or displaying symptoms of COVID-19 (Appendix R) may return after being symptom or fever-free for 24 hours without the use of symptom- or fever-reducing medication.
    • Students and staff members who have a member of their household test positive for COVID-19 must follow all Lexington-Fayette County Health Department quarantine recommendations and may not return to campus until they have been cleared to do so.
    • Student and staff absences due to COVID-19 diagnosis or quarantine requirements will be handled in accordance with district procedures established for these specific circumstances. (See Appendix R)

Communication and Notification Procedures

    • Families and employees are required to notify FCPS if their student tests positive for COVID-19, in accordance with Kentucky Emergency Administrative Regulation 902 KAR 2:220E. (See Appendix S) To report a positive case, families should call 859-381-FCPS (3277), email covid19@fayette.kyschools.us or visit www.fcps.net/covid19.
    • School and district leaders will work in consultation with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to conduct contact tracing – a process of identifying and analyzing the interactions the individual who tests positive has had with others to assess the potential risk to our school community – and identify individuals who need to quarantine as a result of school-related interactions. All FCPS students and employees must cooperate with school and public health officials during this process. (See Appendix R)
    • The school will notify anyone identified as a close contact of a staff or student who tests positive for COVID-19 by phone and instruct them to quarantine for 10 days from the time they last interacted with the individual. A written communication will be sent as a follow up. (Sample talking points and communications can be found in Appendix R) 
    • After close contacts have been notified, all staff and families at the school will receive a written notification from the school in multiple languages appropriate for the student population. (Sample communications can be found in Appendix R) 
    • Every effort will be made to maintain the confidentiality of individuals testing positive for COVID-19. It is important to note, however, that during a worldwide pandemic of this highly contagious virus, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department requires us to notify people who have been in close contact with the infected person.
    • Fayette County Public Schools will follow all state requirements to report the number of students and school personnel reporting a positive diagnosis of COVID-19. (See Appendix R)
    • While committed to maintaining the confidentiality of students and staff, we will make every effort to be transparent regarding all COVID-19 related matters.

Attendance and Tracking

    • To assist with contact tracing, schools should develop protocols to ensure the principal or designee has easy access to the following tools when needed: seating charts, bus manifests. team/club/activity membership lists, emergency contact information for students and staff, documentation of people who moved throughout the building, student and staff schedules, and any other information that could support contact tracing.
    • EJH will require all staff use Trace App.
    • Schools will gather daily attendance and code the reason for student absence. For the 2020-2021 school year, two additional codes have been added by the state to identify students who are “COVID-19 positive” and those who need to “Quarantine” due to exposure.
    • School and district leaders will monitor staff and student attendance for trends/patterns of absences for infectious illness that include identification of absences for COVID-19 and Influenza with an ability to compare to usual rates/patterns at individual school site levels. (Appendix R)
    • School and district leaders will collaboratively determine when classrooms or the school will switch to NTI: 2DL due to rising absence rates, rates of infectious disease, or quarantines of individual teachers, classrooms or a significant portion of the school.