Students in the Miami Valley may not have to be quarantined if they are exposed to someone with COVID at school if they meet a list of requirements identified by the state. It all depends on whether schools employ state mandated prevention policies. This is a change from the policy from the Ohio Department of Health last year where quarantine of students exposed to COVID was often automatic and they were sent home for two weeks.
ODH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, in a written statement released late Thursday, said the state wants as many students to be able to attend classes in-person as possible.
“Developing guidelines that will allow well-protected students to be able to remain in the classroom as much as possible – even if there has been an exposure to COVID-19 – help facilitate that important in-person learning this year,” Vanderhoff said.
Quarantines, however, may be required for students in certain situations. The new guidelines from ODH state that students who are exposed to COVID at school may avoid quarantine only if they had previously been wearing a mask in the classroom, practiced social distancing, with desks three feet apart, and the district had preventative measures such as increased ventilation in buildings, increased cleaning of buildings and “identification of individuals experiencing symptoms.” Even if those conditions were met, the student would still have to wear a mask indoors either for 14 days or until a COVID test is taken and produce negative results.
It comes just as most districts in the Miami Valley are developing their COVID precaution policies. Dayton Public Schools will not require students to wear a mask. Springfield may announce its policy Friday. Most districts are leaving the final decision on masking up to parents. Brad Hall, Superintendent of Bellefontaine City Schools told WHIO-TV that they will begin the new school year without a mask rule for students.
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“We are going to have masks be optional in the classroom. Anyone who wants to wear one is encouraged to do so if it is their personal choice, but we will not mandate masks in the classroom,” Hall said.
The one place where masks will be required in all districts is on school buses.
“It is a federal regulation and the way that the regulation was written they are interpreting school buses as public transportation because it’s a mass transit fleet,” said Bob Hill, Superintendent of Springfield City Schools.
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The mask mandate on the bus comes from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It could be lifted later in the school year. The rule, though, presents a problem for some districts.
“It is challenging for me and we’ve had this conversation with our Health Commissioner that you are going to mandate masks on buses and then if you come into school, it’s potentially optional. And you’re really in the same situation,” Hill said.
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