COVID Update
Barfield Early Childhood Center
October 5, 2021
The WSD Board of Education met last Thursday night and created a new process for how students that are in close contact to an individual known to have tested positive for COVID during the school day will be quarantined in the WSD.
The WSD Communication and Community Relations Department sent the information below to all WSD patrons and staff...........
We wanted to make parents and students aware that effective Monday, October 4, 2021, a new WSD-modified quarantine process will go into effect. The WSD-modified quarantine allows all close contacts who were exposed in the regular school or bus setting (regardless of mask status) to continue attending school in person. In order to qualify for this modification, students must remain consistently and appropriately masked and symptom-free throughout the duration of their 14-day quarantine period and may not participate in extracurricular activities. If students become symptomatic or do not consistently and appropriately wear a mask, they will be required to quarantine at home for the remainder of the 14 days.
The WSD will continue to participate in contact tracing and provide all relevant information to the St. Charles County Department of Public Health, and the SCCDPH will continue to issue orders of quarantine. While the provision of the WSD-modified quarantine allows for students who were exposed during school to continue attending school during the period of full quarantine, families may still elect to keep their student(s) home during this time period. The decision to attend school during this time would be at the parents’ discretion, and student learning will be supported by the WSD staff, regardless of whether the student chooses to attend in person or learn while at home during this time period. As a reminder, students must remain completely symptom-free and appropriately and consistently wear a well-fitted mask in order to be eligible for the new WSD-modified quarantine. Students who do not meet these criteria must remain at home for the duration of their quarantine period.
Thank you for your partnership in keeping our students safe and at school.
~WSD Communications & Community Relations
The modified process does apply to Barfield students and staff. If a student or staff member is exposed to a COVID positive individual either during the school day or on the bus that individual will follow the BOE modified quarantine process outlined above. If a student is unable to properly wear a mask then they will have to remain at home for the duration of the 14 day quarantine (returning on the 15th day). While the BOE changed the parameters for how students are quarantined they did not mandate any additional mitigation measures.
The wearing of masks remains optional in the classroom but mandatory on the bus. We are working with our bus riders, continually teaching them the importance of wearing a mask on the bus to keep others safe. If your child is a close contact and subject to the WSD BOE modified quarantine it is up to you whether or not to send them to school. If you choose to send them to school, then we will work to teach them the importance of wearing a mask. We know that not all students are able to properly wear a mask. We will work with the child on the first day of the BOE modified quarantine, helping them to properly wear the mask. If your child is struggling to wear their mask properly we will contact you and ask for your help to talk to them that night to reinforce the importance of wearing a mask at school. If on the second day of the BOE modified quarantine your child is not able to properly wear a mask we will call you to pick up your child and the remainder of the quarantine will be served at home. Our teachers will reach out to you to provide you support and work for your child to complete during the quarantine.
With the modified BOE quarantine process it is crucial that staff and parents are vigilant in monitoring for any potential symptoms of COVID. If your child is on a BOE modified quarantine and we detect a symptom, then we will call you to pick your child up. We ask that all parents keep their children home if they exhibit any symptoms. We all want to keep our children in school but the risk for an outbreak and infecting countless students/staff is not worth the risk of a single day of attendance. It is my opinion, that in this case, discretion is the better part of valor. To that end I am asking for your help and consideration. Please keep your child home if they have any potential symptoms of COVID.
As things change, which they inevitably will, I will keep you informed.
Thank you for your patience and support.
Kevin Garcia
Principal
Email: kevingarcia@wsdr4.org
Website: https://www.wentzville.k12.mo.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=9
Location: Hanley Road, Dardenne Prairie, MO, USA
Phone: 636 561-5757