Reopening K-12 Schools

As communities around the country grapple with how best to manage the Coronavirus crisis, a critical question on everyone's mind is, "When and how should a district reopen its schools?"

Every K-12 district must incorporate the CDC standards for infection prevention in their reopening plan, including masking, distancing, and disinfection. These practices are essential for avoiding COVID-19 outbreaks in schools, which reduce health risks for students, faculty, and parents.

​Once administrators decide when and how to reopen local school districts, children will need to be screened daily for COVID-19 related symptoms, which include the following:

• Fever or chills
• Cough or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat or nasal congestion
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

There are two screening methods – school-based and home-based.

​School-Based Screening
School-based screening involved onsite symptom reporting and temperature measurement. Interactions upon school entry require close contact between school personnel (or volunteers) and students/parents. This screening model increases the risk of COVID-19 transmission because bottlenecks will occur.

Home-Based Screening
Home-based screening is a more straightforward, more effective method. This involves completing a daily screening survey using an automated COVID-19 Screening Solution that takes seconds to complete. By triggering alerts when issues arise, school leaders are immediately informed of issues. The integrated communication loop and information archiving eliminate hours of unproductive work.

Recommendations
The CDC recommends a home-based screening solution as the best method of ensuring that students with COVID-19 related symptoms are kept at home and not interacting with their classmates. By identifying students infected with coronavirus before they arrive at school, there is reduced spread during transit and school entrance.

Home-based COVID-19 screening solutions for K-12 students, such as the one designed by the Chicago-based technology company, Auscura, should be pursued. With an automated, secure communication portal, the school screening process becomes fast and easy for parents and students. School administrators also gain peace of mind knowing that they are doing their part to keep children and communities safe.

Click here for more information: Return to School Home-Based Screening Solution