New CDC Quarantine Guidelines Announced

December 2, 2020

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new quarantine guidelines for people who have been exposed to coronavirus, reducing the length of time from 14 days to 10 days without symptoms or seven days with no symptoms and a negative test. Officials said the shorter time period is intended to encourage more people to quarantine. The 14-day quarantine is still recommended but they are now offering two acceptable alternative quarantine periods.

What does this mean for students and staff at Wylie ISD?

If you are currently in quarantine or might be quarantined in the future because of close contact with a positive COVID case you have these options:

1. Quarantine for 14 days from date of exposure then return to school
2. Quarantine for 10 days and if you have no symptoms, return to school
3. Quarantine for 7 days and if you have no symptoms, and receive a negative COVID test between days 5-7 you can return to school after day 7. (Tests can be from your doctor or from the testing site at Wylie ISD. (Must sign up and register before testing)

Click here for instructions to sign up for Wylie Optional Testing

For those who have been in close contact with a member of your household:

If you are unable to isolate from the positive case, you will complete your required 10-day quarantine and then begin your additional 14-day quarantine that may be shortened based on the new CDC guidelines.

If you have questions about the date you are able to return to school, please contact your campus. 

Campus Contact Information

Dear Wylie ISD Parents and Staff,

In Wylie ISD, we are committed to doing all we can to keep staff and students healthy and safe. With this goal in mind, we are pleased to share that we will be taking part in a statewide program offering rapid tests for use in schools. This program will allow Wylie ISD to test symptomatic individuals—including staff and students-- and reduce the risk to our school community. This email offers further information on the tests and the testing program. If you have additional questions, you can view FAQ’s here at https:// wyliebulldogs.org/covid19 or contact mmarch@wylie.esc14.net.

What COVID-19 tests are used in this program?

This program uses BinaxNOW tests, which provide results in 15 minutes and are administered using a nasal swab in the front area of the nostril. These tests have been shown to be highly accurate, with accuracy rates of 97-98% for symptomatic individuals.

Who will be tested and when?  

 Wylie ISD will be offering this test to any student or staff who is experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

The BinaxNOW test is completely voluntary and is not required for any students or staff.

Only students that have a completed a permission form on-line and prior to the onset of symptoms will be eligible for testing.  (consent forms will not be accepted during or after a student is already in the nurse’s office). Please fill out the consent form in advance to receive testing services.

Students and staff exhibiting Covid-19 signs or symptoms may be tested starting at 7:30 a.m.  The testing site for early testing will be at the Performing Arts Center at Wylie High School, 4502 Antilley Rd. Abilene, Tx. 79606.  Please use designated parking slots.   Pre-registration for a testing time will be required and available on the Wylie ISD website: https://wyliebulldogs.org/covid19.  Individuals who are scheduled to be tested should pre-register all of their information at https://register.txrapidtest.org/ to generate a QR Code which may be scanned by test administrators in lieu of a driver's license or manually entering the information.  Individuals should take a picture of the QR Code or bring a printed copy of the QR Code to the testing site.  Students that develop symptoms at school will be registered by the school nurse prior to testing.  Staff that develop symptoms at school will complete their registration prior to testing.  Testing for students and staff developing symptoms at school will be done at the campus nurse's office.

Wylie ISD will be also offering this test to staff working on campus on an as-needed basis to determine a negative Covid-19 diagnosis.  This test is optional, but we encourage all staff who work on campus to participate in the testing program.  

Due to predetermined test supplies, students will be limited to two tests per month and staff one test per week.

How will the information from the tests be used?

If a parent has given permission for Wylie ISD to administer the BinaxNOW test for their child, your child’s school will call you to let you know that your student is experiencing symptoms and that they will be administering a BinaxNOW test with parent confirmation.  Additionally, the student’s parent or guardian will receive test results via phone call or text within 30 minutes after test administration and will also receive a confirmation email within 24 hours.

The results will also be shared with the Wylie ISD health director and with the local health department to allow for public health reporting and contact tracing and to determine the stay-at-home period for individuals who test positive. Additionally, the total number of positive tests per school will also be shared with the Texas Department of State Health Services as is required by law.

Wylie ISD recommends that you should share your child’s test results with your child’s primary care physician.

What happens next?

Tests are available to all students and staff who are showing symptoms of COVID-19.  To participate, parents must complete this form (Student Consent Form for Optional Covid-19 Testing Form) included on the Wylie ISD website https://wyliebulldogs.org/covid19, prior to testing. The first date testing will be available is November 30, 2020. 

If your child is experiencing symptoms and you would like for him/ her to be tested, please do not send him/her to campus. Instead please register for a testing time at https://wyliebulldogs.org/covid19 and https://register.txrapidtest.org/.  Make sure Wylie ISD has a completed testing permission form on file.

Beginning October 26, 2020, Wylie ISD trained approved staff members to assist the Taylor County Health Department with contact tracing and notification of Wylie ISD staff and students who have had close contact with a test confirmed COVID-19 positive person.

The Texas Education Agency has also updated some of its guidelines regarding close contact as well as guidelines for returning to school for individuals confirmed or suspected with COVID-19. These updates can be found in the links below. We have highlighted the changes in these documents.


Wylie ISD Contact Tracing Update

TEA COVID-19 Guidelines Update

In less than 24 hours our students and staff will begin the new school year at our campuses and virtually at home! This will be a year like no other and we are looking forward to tomorrow. Here are some important reminders for our first day of school:

-Screen your child for COVID-19 symptoms before sending to school each day. Screening Checklist
-Wear your mask (Grades 4-12)
-Bring a clearly labeled water bottle. Water fountains will be out of order.
-Parents, please stay in your cars while dropping off and picking up
-No microwaves available at lunch so pack accordingly
-Secondary students-print your schedules and have them ready

The most important reminder is to remember to wear those SMILES behind the masks and bring a POSITIVE attitude! We are going to have a GREAT year!

COVID-19 Prevention, Mitigation, and Response Procedures at Wylie ISD

August 7, 2020

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As we plan for returning to school at Wylie ISD, we recognize that this will be an unusual school year, but we remain committed to supporting your student’s learning, as well as his or her safety. 

This document outlines the procedures our campuses will have in place to prevent or mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to respond if a positive case is identified. We hope this transparency helps you to make a decision about your student’s on-campus attendance at Wylie ISD. 

The virus that causes COVID-19 can infect people of all ages. That said, research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), among others, has found that while children do get infected by COVID-19 and some severe outcomes have been reported in children, relatively few children with COVID-19 are hospitalized or have severe symptoms. For many children, there are distinct benefits to attending school in person, including instructional, social, and safety benefits. For these reasons, the American Academy of Pediatrics has made a statement supporting on-campus instruction for students in the coming year.

While it is not possible to eliminate all risk of furthering the spread of COVID-19, the current science suggests there are many steps schools can take to reduce the risks to students, teachers, staff, and their families significantly. The Wylie school district strategy for opening and operating is outlined below. A more detailed plan can be found on our district website (wyliebulldogs.org).

Prevention

To prevent COVID-positive individuals from entering our campuses, your student’s school will have the following COVID-19 symptom screening procedures in place: 

• All staff will be required to self-screen daily.
• All visitors will be required to screen upon arrival.
• Parents are asked to proactively identify when their student exhibits COVID-19 symptoms or has been exposed and to keep them home.
• Please notify your child’s principal or health care professional (nurse) if your child exhibits any Covid19 symptoms or receives a positive Covid19 test result.

 The student screening questions to be completed by the parent (for their child) daily before a student enters a school premise include;

1. Are you currently positive for COVID-19?
2. Are you currently exhibiting any of the potential Covid19 symptoms:

• Temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher when taken by mouth:
• Sore Throat:
• New uncontrolled cough that causes difficulty breathing (or, for students with a chronic allergy/asthmatic cough, a change in their cough from baseline:
• Diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain; or
• New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever.

If a parent indicates that a student is demonstrating COVID-19 symptoms, the school will retain that information until the student meets the criteria for return to school.

Once a student exhibits Covid-19 symptoms and/or receives a positive test result for Covid-19, the student must meet the “Criteria for Return to School” in order to return to in-person instruction

Criteria for Return to School

Conditions for return to school after an individual shows symptoms or gets a positive test result:

Either:

• 24 hours with no fever; and
• Symptoms improved; and
• 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared

Or:

• An acute infection test (PCR TEST ONLY) at an approved testing location (https://tdem.texas.gov/covid-19/) that comes back negative for COVID-19

Or:

• A doctor’s note indicating an alternate diagnosis

Mitigation

Our district will be taking the following steps across each of our campuses to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

• All students 4th grade thru 12th will be required to wear masks (face coverings), except when participating in activities that cannot be conducted with a mask on, such as eating, or unless it is not developmentally appropriate for the student to wear a mask.
• Any student with a medical condition (doctor’s note required) or a disability that prevents wearing a face covering may be exempted.
• Classrooms are being cleaned and disinfected daily.  High touch areas are being sanitized and disinfected multiple times daily.
• Supervised use of handwashing and use of hand sanitizer will be followed at all campuses.

Response

In the event of a COVID-positive case on campus, the campus will take the following steps:

• All areas that are heavily used by the individual with the lab-confirmed case will be closed off until disinfected.
• All teachers, staff, and families of all students in that school will be notified.
• The local health department will be notified.

We hope that this information gives you confidence in our systems and our ability to stop the spread of COVID-19 on our campuses. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s campus principal and/or visit our website at https://www.wyliebulldogs.org/.

While this will be a challenging year, we believe it can also be a great one, and we look forward to supporting your student in his or her learning journey.

Sincerely,

Joey Light

Superintendent Wylie ISD