Good afternoon,
Elmira High School was notified today of a student testing positive for COVID-19, yesterday. Thank you to the parent who quickly notified us, as it allows the District to begin our work that needs to be done, usually 4-6 hours before Lane County Public Health is notified by the lab, and has time to reach out to us. The District has been working with Lane County in looking at this case. What has been found is that there were no close contacts at school due to strong COVID protocols, and as a result, LCPH is NOT requiring any student to isolate/quarantine. This is not what is classified as a “school contact.”
Although the student was in class this week, District staff have checked with EHS teachers and all safety protocols were followed. Lane County has directed that if students maintain the 3 feet distance, wear a mask and wash their hands, a classroom or cohort does not need to quarantine. As an extra precaution, although not required, the High School will be notifying the parents who have students in the same classroom via email, so those parents can monitor their student for any symptoms. If you have questions, feel free to email the EHS Principal at rgardner@fernridge.k12.or.us and he will respond before Monday morning, or call EHS at 541-935-8200.
An additional element of this case is that there were multiple “close contacts” with friends/peers outside of school. To include work, hanging out with friends, meeting at the lake, etc… The family is very cooperative and supportive and is working with Lane County Public Health to get these names, and if your student was a close contact outside of school, either the family of the student, or LCPH will be reaching out to you to discuss the need to quarantine.
The schools have many protocols in place to help protect your student during the school day. However, the school cannot monitor students outside of school. Please help us keep students in school by encouraging them to wear their mask and keep 3 feet apart even when they are out with their friends.
Thanks for continuing to do your best so that we may keep our schools open!
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