On Friday, August 27th, 2021, the USD 456 Board of Education convened a special meeting to address concerns about rising numbers of COVID-19 positives and close contact quarantines amongst students and/or staff. To address this issue, in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, and the Osage County Health Department, the board passed the proposed "Test to Know/Stay/Play Plan" as stated below.
Beginning Monday, August 30th, 2021, the district will provide COVID-19 rapid testing to any student or staff member who would like to KNOW if they are positive, to STAY at school during the course of a mandated quarantine, or to PLAY in an extracurricular activity during the course of a mandated quarantine.
Please review the information below to review the steps involved in the plan. Please note that individuals or their parents/guardians must provide consent to participate, otherwise individuals will simply need to quarantine at home.
- TEST TO KNOW/STAY/PLAY PLAN
- Plan Goal:
- To create a safe, in-person environment in our district's schools where students, teachers, and staff will have reliable access to COVID-19 testing so that individuals can quickly find out if they are potentially positive or continually verify negative results for those that are quarantined. Through these testing measures, a layer of prevention and protection for students, teachers, and staff is created to slow the spread of COVID-19.
- Test to Know:
- At each school building, testing will be available to provide rapid COVID-19 testing for students, teachers, and staff who have symptoms of COVID-19, believe they may have been around someone who had COVID-19 or would like testing for any other reason. If positive, individuals will be sent home and referred to the county health department for further steps.
- Test to Stay/Play:
- If students, teachers, or staff are quarantined due to identification as a close contact, the district can provide testing each day of their quarantine period, if they so choose, and allow them to continue in-person, if continually negative during the quarantine period. If positive or become positive during the course of testing, the individual will not be permitted to be on campus until cleared by the county health department. The county health department will officially designate quarantined individuals, length of testing period, and/or all other quarantine specifics.
- Consent and Reporting
- Students will need to have a parent/guardian sign a "Consent to COVID-19 Testing" form upon the first day of testing during quarantine.
- All test results obtained via school district testing, whether positive or negative, will be reported to KDHE through their stated protocol.
Questions? Please call the district office at 785-549-3521.