Craven County Schools has officially instituted new, relaxed safety protocols for dealing with suspected COVID-19 cases. The decision reinstates the school system’s pre-pandemic health guidelines for staff and students.
During their September 19 meeting, the Craven County Board of Education unanimously approved recommendations from School Nurse Coordinator Luanne Mack for policy changes regarding the school system’s approach to COVID-19.
The item was not included on the school board’s official agenda but was added at the beginning of the meeting at the request of board member Jennifer Dacey.
Dacey led off the discussion by stating that she had received a number of questions from parents and staff who were confused about the school system’s COVID guidelines.
“From my perspective it’s pretty clear the pandemic is over. I think everyone can agree to that,” Dacey commented.
She said she was concerned that school nurses had been asked in recent weeks to report any clusters of COVID-19 cases to the Craven County Health Department.
“And frankly, until our nurses are being paid by the Craven Health Department or Craven County government, I think our staff and our nurses need to be focused on the business of educating our students and being engaged…in school nursing,” Dacey said.
Dacey said she did not feel school nurses should be responsible for collecting data that is “going to be passed along and then utilized in some way in an effort to try to force us into a position where we have to close schools again, which I think everybody is in agreement we cannot afford to do, nor do I believe our county commissioners are interested in us doing that.”
Dacey moved that the school system immediately cease tracking and reporting all COVID-19 cases to the health department and resume pre-pandemic policies “with regard to illness generally.”
During a summary of the school system’s COVID-19 history over the last three and half years, Mack noted that federal funding for COVID-19 testing in schools expired on June 30 and that individual cases are no longer reported to the Craven County Health Department.
“We no longer have testing in our schools so we cannot diagnose what a student may have,” Mack explained. “We can only assess their symptoms and then we can reach out to the parent and communicate how this child is presenting in the nurse’s office.”
Mack said with the guidance of the health department she recommended that the school system no longer require daily tracking of COVID-19 cases.
“This will allow our school nurses to focus on other roles and responsibilities that they’re required to do,” Mack said.
Mack also recommended the following guidelines for managing student illness in a “pre-pandemic way.” The recommendations were approved by the board.
-Students must be fever free for at least 24 hours without a fever reducing medication, a fever being defined as 100 degrees or higher. The student should have no vomiting or diarrhea for at least 12 hours from the last episode. Students should feel well enough to participate in school activities but they are no longer required to be cleared to return to school.
“No COVID test or MD clearance is now required to return following an illness,” Mack said.
-For students who become sick while at school, the parents and guardians will be notified by the school nurse or staff.
-Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will still need to be excluded for five days and masked from days six through 10. Individuals who have COVID-like symptoms but do not have a fever or gastrointestinal illness will remain in school and will not be excluded for the five days and will not be required to get an alternate diagnosis. No COVID-19 testing will be required to return to school or work for individuals who test positive.
“Parents still have the option to test but that will be the choice of the parent,” Mack noted.
-Contact tracing for those who have been exposed is no longer required but it is recommended that students and staff that have had a direct exposure and develop symptoms of COVID-19 be tested.
Board Attorney Brian Gatchel noted that school system staff had already implemented the policy changes but that an administrative response was needed from the board to clear up confusion on the matter.
Board member Naomi Clark made a motion to table the discussion until the board’s October meeting to allow time for more data to be gathered as well as public input. Clark’s motion did not advance for lack of a second.
“I’m in favor of essentially what you said but if we talk about transparency and public input I think it might behoove us to delay this until the next meeting,” Clark told the board.
By Todd Wetherington, co-editor. Send an email with questions or comments.