August 13, 2021
Dear South Brown County USD 430 School Community,
Thank you for your continued support of the health and safety of our students and staff as we continue our planning to provide safe in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year. This letter will serve as communication for two topics, transportation and quarantines.
We need to share with you some recent clarification that we received from the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) which will require our compliance and adherence to an existing Order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This Order applies to all students who will be riding a school bus and requires that all students and all drivers wear masks over the mouth and nose while on the bus. The order can be found at the following link:
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine...
The key term in the CDC/HHS Order that makes the masking requirement applicable to our school buses is the term “conveyances,” which will not only include school buses but will also apply to other forms of school district-provided transportation such as activity buses, vans, SUVs, and/or cars. We will ensure that our drivers have extra masks available should your child(ren) be without one.
Currently, we are working with KDHE and the Brown County Health Department to develop testing procedures that may reduce or eliminate quarantines. Currently, if you are vaccinated and showing no symptoms then you do not have to quarantine. Another option that USD 430 will be exploring this year will be rapid testing (only with guardian approval), for students or staff who have been in close contact with someone that tested positive for COVID-19. If your child has not been vaccinated and showing no symptoms then you may have the option to do a rapid test for 10 straight days. As long as the test comes back negative and you remain symptom-free your child will be able to attend school and participate in activities. If your rapid test comes back positive a PCR test will be given and sent off to a lab for results. The student would need to go home and quarantine until test results are verified (usually 2 days). If you have any questions on the testing process please contact the nurse at your child’s building for more information.
We appreciate your time in reviewing this information and your patience and understanding with continually evolving circumstances that require our compliance and adherence. Please know we will share any updates with you about this existing Order as we learn about them.
Sincerely,
Jason Cline
Superintendent
USD 430 South Brown County