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Dear Poplar Tree Families,
As the number of cases increase around the county, we want to share some additional information about the COVID processes in place at PTES. Thank you for your help in keeping all of our students and staff safe at school.
Daily Health Screen Questionnaire
❗Keep your child home from school with any symptoms that are COVID-like.❗
The most important way you can help as a parent is to keep your child(ren) home if they present with any illness or symptoms that are associated with COVID, i.e., runny nose, coughing, headache, stomach ache, vomiting.
If you keep your child home, and they are feeling better the next day, then they do not need documentation from a medical provider to return.
If your child comes to school and presents with symptoms, they will be placed in the Care Room and will be sent home. Your child must then be seen by a medical provider in order to return to school.
Parents, caregivers or guardians are strongly encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms of infectious illness every day through a home-based symptom screening and students who are sick should not come to school. Please consider the questions in the Health Screening Questionnaire each morning before sending your child to school. If you answer “YES” to any of the questions, please keep your child home.
Keep your child home if you suspect your child may have come in contact with someone who has COVID.
Please be overly cautious and keep your child home if you are awaiting COVID test results.
Communicate quickly with us.
As soon as you have information that your child has COVID or likely has it, please let us know. We only reveal the name of a student to the health department. The sooner we have information, the sooner we can alert the health department to begin the contact tracing.
Send your child to school with a properly fitted mask.
Aligned with guidance provided by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has established procedures for the use of face coverings/masks (cloth or disposable) for students, staff, and visitors designed to mitigate the spread of COVID. This document highlights the types of masks that are appropriate for students to wear to school.
What will happen if there is a student who tests positive for COVID in my child’s class?
If a student tests positive and was at school during the infectious period (within 48 hours of onset of symptoms), we will alert the entire school community. The school reviews seating assignments throughout the school day and identifies potential close contacts to the student who has tested positive for Covid-19.
If your child is considered a potential close contact, we will notify you immediately. If your child is currently at school, we will ask you to come pick your child up from school.
What determines if a student is a potential close contact to a known positive case?
The following are examples of individuals who would be considered a potential close contact:
- Students wearing masks who were less than 3 feet from a student case for 15 minutes or more in a school day
- Students not wearing masks who were 6 feet or less from a student case for 15 minutes or more in a school day
- Students masked or unmasked who were within 6 feet or less of a staff case for 15 minutes or more in a school day
What happens if my child is determined to be a potential close contact by FCPS staff?
Out of an abundance of caution, any student who is identified as a potential close contact by FCPS staff will have to stay home from school until the Health Department completes its contact tracing and closes the investigation. We have been told that this could be up to 72 hours. While your child is at home, your child’s teachers will provide assignments for them to access. If your child does not have their computer at home, we will work with you to pick it up at school. Please note that FCPS staff can only identify potential close contacts; we are not identifying students who have to quarantine. Only the Health Department can determine if your child needs to quarantine through their contact tracing investigation.
Case Information
We cannot disclose details of the positive case to include the child's name, grade, class or any additional information; or the staff member's name or assignment. The health department will contact you directly and will direct the appropriate students to quarantine. The school will notify the entire community when the contact tracing is complete. Once the Health Department has completed their investigation, we will also invite any student who was staying home per FCPS staff direction and who has not been required to quarantine per the Health Department to return to school.
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