BACK-TO-SCHOOL COVID-19 

Guidelines/Recommendations 

The Vinton County Health Department understands the importance of in-person learning and will continue to support the efforts of Vinton County Local School District in implementation of precautions to ensure in-person learning continues this school year. 

Recommended Strategies 

• Stay at home when sick- individuals who have symptoms of respiratory or gastrointestinal infections, such as cough, fever, sore throat, vomiting, or diarrhea, should stay home. Testing is recommended for people with symptoms of COVID-19 as soon as possible after symptoms begin. Individuals who at risk for severe illness or complications, who test positive, should consult with their healthcare provider right away. 
• Ventilation-funds were provided through the US Department of Education’s Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief Program to improve the ventilation within the schools. This has been completed at Vinton County Local Schools. 
• Hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette- Please remind students that handwashing and covering coughs and sneezes is important to prevent the spread of any infectious disease. 
• Cleaning-surfaces within the school should be cleaned at least once a day 
• Staying up to date on vaccinations- COVID-19 vaccination helps protect individuals from getting severely ill with COVID-19. 
• Specific COVID-19 Community Levels and Associated Prevention- The CDC has established COVID-19 Community Levels that are updated on Thursdays. The latest information can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fscience%2Fcommunity-levels.html 
  • All COVID-19 levels (Low, Medium, High) 

  • Stay up to date on vaccinations

  • Maintain ventilation improvements

  • Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19

  • Follow guidelines for isolation if you test positive for COVID-19

  • If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with your healthcare provider about additional prevention actions

  • COVID-19 Community Level Medium or High

  • If you are at high risk of getting very sick, wear a well-fitting mask or respirator when indoors in public

  • If you have household contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick, consider testing before contact and consider wearing a mask when indoors with them

  • COVID-19 Community Level High

  • Wear a well-fitting mask or respirator when indoors

  • If you are at high risk of getting very sick, consider avoiding non-essential indoor public activities. 

    
    

    
    

• Masking-Please see the guidelines listed above. When the COVID-19 community level is high, masking is recommended. Individuals who have a known or suspected exposure to COVID-19 should wear a well-fitting mask or respirator around others for 10 days from their last exposure. Anyone that chooses to wear a mask, should be supported in doing so at any community level. 
• Testing-individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 should be offered/referred for testing. Routine screening testing in K-12 schools is no longer recommended. However, at a high COVID-19 Community Level, schools can consider implementing screening testing for students and staff for high-risk activities. 
• Management of Cases and Exposures-individuals who come to school with symptoms should be asked to wear a well-fitting mask or respirator while in the building and be sent home and encouraged to get tested. Those who cannot wear a mask should be separated from others as much as possible. Quarantine for those who have been exposed is no longer recommended. Those that are exposed should follow the recommendations to wear a mask though day 10. 
• Outbreaks-additional precautions/prevention strategies may be implemented in the event of an outbreak. The Health Department will work with the school in the event of an outbreak. 

These are the recommendations based upon CDC’s latest guidance. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Public Health at the Vinton County Health Department at 740-596-5233.

The Safer Ohio School Tip Line is a free safety resource available to all Ohio schools. The tip line is an anonymous reporting system that accepts both calls and texts 24 hours a day.

This tip line allows students and adults to anonymously share information with school officials and law enforcement about threats to student safety—whether that involves a threatened mass incident or harm to a single student.

Things to report to the tip line include (but are not limited to):

• Bullying incidents;
• Withdrawn student behaviors;
• Verbal or written threats observed toward students, faculty or schools;
• Weapon/suspicious devices on or near school grounds;
• Gang related activities;
• Unusual/suspicious behavior of students or staff;
• Self-harm or suicidal sentiments; and
• Any other school safety related concerns.

Every tip can remain anonymous. School safety analysts may ask for additional information, but the caller can remain secret or leave his or her contact information for later follow-up.

Calls or texts to 844-SaferOH (844-723-3764) are answered by analysts within Ohio Homeland Security.  If action is needed, the analysts immediately forward information to local school officials, law enforcement agencies and the Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC) for action and follow up.

The OSSC partners with the Ohio Department of Education to follow up with affected school and law enforcement agencies to make sure that the incident is investigated, action is taken and resources and supports are provided when necessary.

Should an emergency or disaster situation ever arise in our area while school is in session, we want you to be aware that the schools have made preparations to respond effectively to such situations.

Should we have a major disaster during school hours, your student(s) will be cared for at this school. Our School District has a detailed emergency operations plan which has been formulated to respond to a major catastrophe.