PSD : Update To COVID-19 Communications Process

Press release from the Peninsula School District:

2021-10-08

Dear Peninsula School District Families,

We are writing with an important announcement about changes to our communications process when an individual in our schools/buildings is diagnosed with COVID-19. These changes will take effect tomorrow, Friday, October 8, 2021.

What’s Changing?
In consultation with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, we have decided to use the district’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard as our main communications tool for COVID-19 reporting. We will discontinue sending letters to students and staff who are identified as not close contacts of an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 while at school.

Individuals identified as not close contacts may have interacted briefly with an individual diagnosed with COVID-19, but are not considered to be close contacts.

In addition, we will discontinue sending general notification letters to the entire school population of a school when a case is identified. 

The not close contact and general notification letters are not required by the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, and feedback we’ve received from staff and families indicates this messaging can be confusing and cause unnecessary anxiety. 

What’s Continuing?
We will continue the following notification practices when an individual is diagnosed with COVID-19:

• Close contacts, or those who have spent 15 or more minutes over a 24-hour period within 6 feet or within 3 feet in a K-12 indoor classroom setting of a person diagnosed with COVID-19, will be notified by phone call and a follow-up written message.

• We will continue to be transparent with our community about COVID-19 cases in our schools by updating the COVID-19 Data Dashboard daily and regularly sharing a link to the dashboard in school and district newsletters.

• We will continue communicating safety protocols and that all staff and students should continue monitoring for symptoms of COVID-19.
   

Thank you,
PSD Leadership

This press release was produced by the Peninsula School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.