On December 17, the CDC shared important information regarding the Test-to-Stay program for schools during a White House Press Briefing. I shared with you months ago that Lake County was one of two counties across the nation to participate in a pilot of the Test-to-Stay program. The premise of the program is to allow students who have been exposed to a positive COVID-19 case at school to test over a week period in lieu of quarantine, so long as the student exposed remains symptom-free. Data collected from the pilot revealed that less than 2% of students exposed to a positive case at school ended up testing positive. These results led to expanding the program across the country. Please note, that in order to exercise this program, all students and staff must be appropriately masked at all times. For OGS, the program is already up and running and we look forward to continuing to provide families with this option.
During the winter break, OGS school nurses will only be collecting positive test cases that impact our school. Therefore, families and staff should continue to report any positive case through end-of-day Friday, December 24, so that contact tracing from this school week can occur. Any positive cases that impact a student's return to school on January 10, should also be reported to our nurses. Our nurses will not be checking email routinely while on vacation, so if you have a question about your child's health, please reach out to your family healthcare provider to receive more immediate assistance.
Wishing you all a HEALTHY and restful winter break!
Allison Sherman
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Superintendent
Oak Grove School District 68
