Much talk in the area has revolved around the closure of school buildings in the Central portion of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Schools in the South and Eastern areas of the district have remained open for students who wish to choose that option. KPBSD updated families on their symptom-free protocol in a Wednesday release. While Central-area students, with some exceptions, remain at home until at least September 8, families in the rest of the district should know when it is acceptable to actually send students to school.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Symptom-Free Schools Protocol aims to provide a learning environment that is as free of illness as possible, so students and staff of all health levels can participate in school without fear. By extension, this will also promote the safety, health and welfare of local communities. This applies to students, staff, parents and guardians, volunteers, and any school visitors.
The protocol calls for staying home from school if:
- You have active vomiting or diarrhea;
- You have fever, chills, generalized body aches. Fever threshold will constitute 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit or higher without use of fever-reducing medication like Tylenol or Ibuprofen.
- If you have any other COVID-19 symptoms: fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, shaking with chills, muscle pain, runny or stuffy nose, headache, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell.
- Parent, guardian, or individual should call their health care provider or Public Health first for guidance regarding presenting symptoms and possible testing for COVID-19.
- You are taking the first 24 hours of antibiotic treatment.
- You have an undiagnosed, new and, or, untreated rash or skin condition.
- If you have traveled outside Alaska or returned in the last 14 days and have not yet completed the state-required quarantine and, or, testing protocol.
The protocol also discusses when it is acceptable for students to return to school:
- If you have been tested and are diagnosed with COVID-19, you may return to school no sooner than ten days after the onset of symptoms, or the date you took the test that was returned positive, whichever is earlier, and you have been symptom free for 24 hours without medication.
- If you have COVID-19-like symptoms but choose not to be tested, you may return to school no sooner than ten days after the onset of symptoms and you must be fever-free for 24 hours without taking any medicine to reduce the fever and you must be free of cough, cold, or other symptoms for 24 hours, without taking medication to reduce symptoms.
- If you have COVID-19-like symptoms, are tested and receive a negative result, you may provide the test result and return to school 24 hours after you have been symptom-free with no medication.
- If you have symptoms and visit a doctor who determines your symptoms are caused by something else besides COVID19, you can provide a doctor’s note and return to school 24 hours after you have been symptom free with no medication.
- If you feel the symptoms were caused by a chronic problem, such as allergies, please consult your school nurse. Your doctor may be able to provide an order with an alternate diagnosis. However, your child will still have to be symptom-free before returning to school.