1. What are the possible symptoms of COVID-19?

   COVID-19 Symptoms may include: 

• Fever or chills
• Night sweats
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
  
  

2.  What should I do if my child has COVID-19 symptoms?

Keep your child home if your child is experiencing any of these symptoms and contact your child’s physician before sending them to school. Please do not send your child to school when they are ill.

3.  What should I do if I receive a letter that my child has been identified as having potential exposure to COVID-19?  

This means that your child has been identified as being in class or riding the bus with someone that has tested positive. Please monitor your child for COVID-19 symptoms.  If your child is experiencing any symptoms, please do not send them to school and also contact your doctor.

4.  What should I do if my child has tested positive for COVID-19?  

The District will consider CDC and PA Department of Health guidelines for isolation, and generally require:

1. A person who tests positive for COVID shall isolate from all school activities for five days, and may return if symptom-free on day six.
   
   
2. A person who experiences COVID symptoms shall isolate for five days  from all school activities, but may return earlier with a negative COVID test or a doctor’s note.
   

5.  Can you provide details on how the District communicates with the Department of Health and who makes the decision to quarantine a classroom, group of students, or close a building?

The District will closely monitor trends in groups of individuals testing positive. If there is an outbreak in a specific group of children (class, team, bus, or school building), the District will consult with a team of epidemiologists at the Department of Health for guidance on when to close a classroom or quarantine a group of students. The epidemiologists may recommend a school closure based upon multiple factors. The District will then consider the recommendations of the epidemiologists.

6.  What if my child is healthy but I am uncomfortable sending them to school?

Full-time distance learning is available through our Southern York Digital Academy for  those families uncomfortable with in-person instruction. Please contact your building administrator for more information on this program.

7.  Will the community be notified of any confirmed COVID-19 cases?

Our District has created a COVID-19 dashboard on our website to share information with our community. This dashboard contains the number of individuals at each building who have tested positive, and the total number of individuals who have been, and are currently, quarantined. Individuals include students, staff, and contractors working for the District.

8.  When will COVID-19 testing at the school buildings be available?

In order to begin administering tests to students and staff, there is a process through the Pennsylvania Department of Education which school districts are required to follow. It may take several weeks for the Southern York County School District to receive tests. We will update you as we receive more information. We will communicate a start date when testing will be available in District buildings. At this time, we do not have a firm date. 

9.  Who will do the COVID-19 testing?

With parent consent, tests will be administered by our school nurses using rapid COVID-19 antigen tests provided by Concentra.

10.  Will COVID-19 testing be done randomly, or will it be based on symptoms?

Tests will be administered based on symptoms and only with parent consent. 

11.  What happens if a parent does not consent to COVID-19 testing for their child? 

If a parent is not comfortable with their child receiving a COVID-19 test, the school nurse will not administer the test. If your child shows symptoms of COVID-19 while in school and consent is not given for testing, we will continue to provide care to the student as we would have done before testing was available. 

12.  What can I do to help?

• Please keep your child home if they are sick. 
• Continue to screen individuals in your household for symptoms of COVID-19.
• If your child has tested positive for COVID-19, please alert your child’s school nurse as soon as possible.
• Continue to social distance.
• Avoid crowded areas or large gatherings.