For Charlotte parents, a checklist for sending kids back to school
Students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools return to the classroom Tuesday, and school leaders are pleading with families to get their child vaccinated or boosted, if eligible.
Besides the shots, there are other steps families and students need to take to reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. Due to the highly-contagious Omicron variant, CMS Superintendent Earnest Winston told families Sunday in a message that a “strong partnership” is needed to keep children safe and healthy.
Here’s a checklist before schools reopen and a review of what protocols are in place:
Sick? Stay home.
Parents and students need to be vigilant if COVID-like symptoms are present. Those symptoms include: a fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat. If any of these symptoms are present, the child should stay home and get tested.
School nurses will continue to assess students with COVID-like symptoms who are referred to the school health room and make decisions about the need for a student to isolate at home, seek COVID-19 testing or visit a physician, but the vigilance should begin at home.
Upgrade masks
CMS and Mecklenburg County overall continues to have a mask mandate for most indoor spaces.
With the Omicron variant, experts are recommending a better mask to protect students from infection. It’s best to wear N95, KN95 or KF94 masks.
If your child cannot or doesn’t want to wear one of the masks mentioned above, multiple layers are recommended. For example, using a surgical mask with a cloth mask on top.
Take advantage of CMS’ testing program
In conjunction with the state, the district’s pooled/rapid testing program for employees will resume this week. Students can also be tested but parent permission ahead of time is required. Visit the COVID Safety page under “Families” at CMS.K12.nc.us to more information and the consent form.
CMS will continue to report positive cases among students and school-based employees, which will be reflected weekly in the COVID-19 data dashboard on the CMS website.
Have a plan
A state law passed in August prohibits CMS or any school district in North Carolina from going to full remote instruction as many did last school year.
But, CMS can go to remote learning daily on a school-by-school, grade-by-grade, or class-by-class basis due to COVID quarantines. That means families need to be ready if their child’s school or class, for example, go remote.
The state’s COVID-19 tool kit has updated protocols for exposure at school.
If a person has tested positive with an antigen test or a PCR/molecular test, but the person does not have symptoms, he/she can return to school five days after the first positive test as long as no symptoms develop. But, that person must continue to mask for five days.
In cases of close contact or exposure to someone diagnosed with COVID, students or adults who haven’t been vaccinated or boosted (where eligible) must quarantine for a minimum of five days, even if not showing symptoms or appearing sick.
Get vaccinated, boosted
Getting vaccinated or a booster if eligible, is the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports,” the toolkit states.
In Mecklenburg County, 25% of all kids ages 5-11 have gotten at least one dose of COVID vaccines. And 58% of all kids ages 12-17 have gotten at least one dose. That’s compared to 63% of total county residents getting at least one shot.
Children ages 0-17 make up 16% of total cases in Mecklenburg since March 2020, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. That percentage has climbed in recent months, especially as the percentage of cases among elderly adults, a largely vaccinated population, has declined. In the week of Dec. 12 the most recent week available — children ages 0-17 make up 22% of cases in Mecklenburg.
Hannah Smoot contributed.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 5:04 PM.
