-Clark County, NV-

Clark County School District sent out a new directive from Superintendent Jara telling all Principals to revisit their Covid-19 Protocols in place for the students returning to schools today. As well as an email with directives was sent out to all staff and parents on the 30th of December telling of what changes will take place in the schools in the new year.

“We received this directive today,” stated Virgin Valley High School Principal Riley Frei. “We are to revisit our protocols which include seating charts, required masks, and proper social distancing area, along with mandatory testing for extracurricular activity students and faculty.”

As stated in the earlier email to staff and parents, “According to the recently updated CDC guidance on isolating and quarantining, CCSD is implementing the new recommended guidelines. Additionally, the State mask mandate remains in place.”

The biggest change is the time of isolation required by the CDC if coming in contact or testing positive with Covid-19. People with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. The CDC website reports, “Additionally, CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for anyone in the general public who is exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine the following exposure but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure.  For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately be quarantined until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.”

If a student/staff is not feeling well, has any symptoms of Covid-19, or tested positive with Covid-19, they must stay home from school until cleared to return. Employees must report in continually through the emocha Health app or web portal located at https://checkin.emocha.com/ccsd.

“This is nothing new for us,” refined Principal Frei. “We have had these protocols in place and we do have to make sure they are fully in place, but we have it handled and we will do our best to continue to keep the safety of the kids and staff as one of our top priorities.”

The only change that will happen is that extracurricular events like sports games will be more likely strict on the mask mandate.

“We just ask the community, parents, and all extracurricular event attendees to be patient,” said Frei.

Parents and guardians are asked to call the CCSD Covid-19 Hotline to report their student’s positive Covid-19 test result, recent exposure to a Covid-19 positive individual, or possible Covid-19 symptoms. The Hotline is available Monday-Friday from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm and has both English and Spanish-speaking staff. The number is (702) 799-4322.