Ray-Pec community,
Earlier today, you received an email from the school district regarding the approach the Cass County Health Department (CCHD) will be taking with regard to quarantines of students or staff members who have been exposed to an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19. That email explained that the CCHD will no longer require nor enforce quarantine periods for individuals exposed to those who have tested positive for COVID-19. The CCHD’s decision is in response to a recent court case out of Cole County, Missouri.
I appreciate your patience and grace as we have worked through this pandemic together. Throughout the pandemic, we have relied on the CCHD to inform our practices and direct us in how we should handle COVID-19 situations. This latest decision from the CCHD will be incorporated into our current procedures and protocols.
Any student or staff with a positive case of COVID-19 will be expected to stay at home, per our Board policy for all communicable diseases. Any student or staff who has been exposed to a positive case of COVID-19 will no longer need to quarantine on that basis alone. We will continue to contact and trace every positive case that we know about and will inform parents/guardians of students to let them know that there may be potential exposure to COVID-19. However, quarantines will not be required based on close contacts, per the latest CCHD guidance.
Any students currently in quarantine will be allowed to return to school prior to the expiration of their current quarantine period.
We will continue to offer rapid tests for students and staff who have been exposed to COVID-19 and who want to receive a test to know if they are positive for the virus.
It is important that we remain vigilant for symptoms of COVID-19. If your child has a fever, fatigue, muscle aches, loss of taste or smell, or any other symptom listed here, please keep her/him at home. This is critical to helping reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread in our classrooms. Face coverings will continue to be highly recommended. Additionally, I encourage you to talk to your healthcare provider about vaccinations to see if they are right for your child.
As we all know, pandemic guidance and directives change from time to time and often times rapidly. As we have throughout the pandemic, we will let you know of new information as we learn of it.
Again, I appreciate your patience and grace as we all have made our way through this pandemic. We will continue to do all that we can to provide a healthy environment for students and staff.
Thank you for entrusting your children to the Ray-Pec School District.
Mike Slagle
