Palm Coast Times

Flagler County Public Schools issued the following announcement on September 22.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we as a District have recognized the important role of our state Surgeon General and our state Department of Health as our communities continue to slow the spread of COVID.

Flagler Schools continues to encourage the routine cleaning of classrooms and high-traffic areas. We also continue to encourage the practice of routine hand-washing throughout the day. We also ask students to stay home if they are sick. 

If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19 or has symptoms consistent with COVID-19: 

• they shall not attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on school property until they receive a negative diagnostic COVID-19 test and is asymptomatic
• -or- ten days have passed since the onset of the symptoms or positive test result, and the person has had no fever for 24 hours and other symptoms are improving; 
• -or- written permission to return to school or work is issued by a licensed medical doctor, osteopathic physician, or an advanced registered nurse practitioner. 

This has not changed since the start of the 2021-22 school year.

What has changed: On September 22, 2021, the Florida Department of Health issued a NEW  Emergency Rule 64DER21-15 addressing how to handle students notified of being in close contact with a positive COVID-19 individual: 

• The parent or legal guardian can allow the student to attend school, school-sponsored activities, or be on school property without restrictions or disparate treatment, as long as the student shows no symptoms of COVID-19. 
• The parent or legal guardian can also opt to have the student quarantined up to seven days from the date of last direct contact with a person that is positive for COVID-19.
• Should the student begin to show symptoms of COVID-19, they should then follow the guidelines as laid out for a positive case of COVID.

That information will be shared with parents/guardians during the contact tracing process.

We have updated our "Back to School Guide" as well as our decision tree to reflect these new changes.

Original source can be found here.