Sweetwater County School District No. 2 is taking a different tack in how it deals with quarantines related to COVID-19 exposure.
“What we’re doing now is not working,” Superintendent Craig Barringer told the district’s board of trustees Monday evening.
The board opted to update its Smart Start guidelines and change when students are sent to quarantine.
The approved update now allows students who are masked, vaccinated or in an environment that allows for social districting that are exposed to COVID-19 to avoid quarantine if they don’t show symptoms of the disease. Students who forgo quarantine through the procedure are recommended to take a COVID-19 test five days after the exposure and wear a mask, though there are no mechanisms drafted to enforce those recommendations.
The school district’s COVID-19 infections and quarantines are quickly approaching the numbers recorded during the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year. According to data presented Monday night, the number of positive infections for the 2020-2021 year reached 200. So far during the current school year, the district has had a total 265 positive cases of COVID-19 recorded. Quarantines have also surpassed the previous school year. During last year, 582 student and staff quarantines were recorded while the current school year has already had a total of 836 as of Sept. 24. However, Barringer admits the numbers are not accurate because some students were counted twice in tallies conducted on Sept. 17 and 24.
Barringer said the amendment was drafted without consultation from Sweetwater County Public Health. The district’s administration sought input from school principals and school nurses prior to forwarding the amendment to the board. He said the Smart Start plan itself was drafted with the intent to keep children in school and said none of the district’s schools are nearing the 15% positivity rate cited to move a school towards a 10-day mask mandate. According to the Smart Start Guide, the positivity rate would be recalculated to see if the school’s positivity rate falls below 15% after that 10-day period.
Residents voiced their concerns during the meeting, though some commented on COVID-19 issues not related to the amendment itself. Resident Melissa Moffat urged the board to drop quarantining altogether and claimed masks are not the answer to curbing COVID-19. A COVID-19 survivor herself, she said the response has impacted students’ mental health and alleged the board did not care about that impact — something Chairman Steve Core was quick to disagree with.
Michelle Cordova, a school nurse, said the amendment still provides parents with the ultimate choice of if a child wears a mask or not.
“We’re trying to make a small step and see if it works,” she said.
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