- West Contra Costa Unified School District
- Covid Information
- COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions
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The following questions were derived from feedback received during the District's live listening sessions, social media platforms and the feedback@wccusd.net email address. The district will continue to collect feedback from all stakeholders and provide answers to concerns around COVID response. Your feedback is encouraged as we work to ensure schools remain open and safe for students and staff. Click the following links to submit comments and questions, and see the District's responses to frequently asked questions below. This webpage is updated regularly. Please visit the page again to stay up to date on the latest information.
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WCCUSD is using the Group-Tracing Approach for contact tracing. What should students notified of an exposure be told?
Schools should notify students who spent more than a cumulative total of 15 minutes (within a 24-hour time period) in shared indoor airspace (e.g., classroom) with someone with COVID-19 during their period of infectiousness.
Notification should occur to "groups" of exposed students (e.g., classmates, teammates, cohorts, etc.) rather than contact tracing to identify individual "close contacts" (e.g., those within 6 feet).
Notifications should be provided to all individuals considered exposed, including those who are vaccinated and/or recently infected.
For example, if a student in tenth grade is diagnosed with COVID-19, the school should notify groups with whom that student interacted as per the criteria above, such as those in the same classes, sports team, and/or other extracurricular cohorts.
Notifications should highlight that exposed students may remain in school but should get tested. Scientific research and experience from around the country – including from California during this school year – demonstrate that schools remain among the safest places for children to be. Information regarding where and how to access testing resources should be included, along with isolation instructions in case the exposed individual tests positive or develops symptoms. Required mitigation practices (such as masking) should be reiterated.
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What does it mean to be "fully vaccinated" and "up-to-date" regarding booster status?
People who get a Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson & Johnson booster shot and are 2 weeks past are fully vaccinated. For someone who is booster eligible, and it has been 5 months after their second dose of Moderna or Pfizer, or 2 months after Johnson & Johnson dose, and they have not received the third dose, they are not up-to-date.
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Under what circumstances should temporary school closure be considered due to excessive COVID-19 cases?
California is unequivocally committed to preserving the safety and success of in-person instruction at K-12 schools. Temporary school closure due to COVID-19 should be a last resort and considered only after all available resources have been exhausted in an attempt to preserve in-person education. In such a circumstance, continuity of instruction for students will be critical. For information regarding the provision of independent study, visit the CDE website.
Temporary school closures should be considered only after conferring with local health officials. There is no specific case threshold at which the state recommends an immediate temporary closure of a classroom or school. Instead, the process should be guided by local epidemiology, with particular attention paid to concern for in-school transmission. Operational factors may also be considered, including the ability to maintain sufficient teaching staff to provide in-person instruction.
Note that infections diagnosed in students and school staff are not necessarily the result of exposure at school, and COVID-19 transmission remains much more likely to occur among people living in the same household or participating in other non-school activities. Testing is strongly encouraged to assess the extent of cases among students and school staff. Local health officers are encouraged to contact the state should the need for testing resources exceed local supply, and for additional consultation to support decision-making processes.
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Where can I get my child vaccinated for COVID-19?
The District has been and will continue to sponsor FREE vaccinations for COVID-19 for District students at multiple school sites throughout the District. Visit this page for more information: https://www.wccusd.net/Page/15989
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How do I submit verification that my child is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or is medically exempt from getting the vaccine?
Please enter proof of your child’s COVID-19 vaccination through the District’s secure website portal at: wccusd.powerschool.com/public/. If you do not have access to the internet, you may submit verification of your child’s in writing at their school site. If you have a medical exemption excusing your child from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement, please submit verification of that exemption through the same secure website portal: wccusd.powerschool.com/public/.
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What if my child has an IEP, must they still get a COVID-19 vaccinated?
Yes, if your child has IEP he or she must still get vaccinated, unless your child already has a District approved medical exemption for immunization or unless a medical exemption from the COVID-19 vaccine requirement is submitted to the District. However, the District will ensure that any student with an IEP will continue to have access to the special education and related services required by the student’s individualized education program regardless of vaccination status.
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The state allows for religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate, why don’t you? Isn’t that illegal?
The legal authority of the state and local education agencies are different. There is no statute or California Supreme Court case that expressly prevents the District from establishing and implementing an FDA approved COVID-19 vaccine for eligible students that does not include a personal belief exemption.
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The COVID vaccines were approved for emergency use. Are they safe for children?
From the Mayo Clinic: The FDA reviewed a study of more than 2,200 U.S. children ages 12 through 15. Of this group, about half were given the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The other children were given an inactive (placebo) shot.
A week after the second dose was given, research showed no cases of COVID-19 in the 1,005 children given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Among 978 children given the placebo, there were 16 cases of COVID-19. None of the children had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19. The results suggest that the vaccine is 100% effective at preventing COVID-19 in this age group.
From the CDC: COVID-19 vaccines were developed using science that has been around for decades.
- COVID-19 vaccines are safe—much safer than getting COVID-19.
- COVID 19-vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness from COVID-19 and limiting the spread of the virus that causes it.
Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history. CDC recommends you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you can.
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Who is required to get vaccinated against COVID-19?
Employees and students who are 12 years of age and older and part of in-person extracurricular programs must receive their first vaccination dose within 30 days from the adoption of the resolution, and their second dose no later than 60 calendar days after adoption of the resolution. (October 30th and Nov 30th.)
All students ages 12 and up, and other students as they become eligible for the vaccine, must receive their first shot within 45 days after adoption of the resolution, and the second dose no later than 75 days after adoption of the resolution. Students who will turn 12, or become eligible for the vaccine during the school year, will have a month after their birthday to get vaccinated. (Nov. 15 and Dec. 15)
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What is the new testing system?
Beginning Monday, September 13, the district has partnered with Laboratory Services of America (LSA) to administer weekly rapid COVID-19 tests to students and staff. These tests will significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to identify a positive test: they produce results in around 15 minutes and families will be notified of results within 15-30 minutes.
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How do I register my student for testing?
LSA provides a one-time registration process online. Visit the Covid Testing webpage on the District’s website to locate registration instructions for your school. Click on the link in the instructions to go to the website or use a QR code on your phone. You only need to register one time for continued testing throughout the year.
No documentation or official I.D. is required to register, and when arriving for testing, you will only be asked to provide your name and date of birth.
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How can I register if I cannot provide a social security number?
If you are unable to provide a social security number, enter 000-00-0000 into the SSN line to move to the next step.
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How often is testing offered?
We are testing every week. The testing schedule is now an appointment based system through LSA, which you can find here.
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What if I am unable to register online?
Contact your school’s front office if you need assistance with the LSA registration process.
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What if my student tests positive for COVID-19?
If a student tests positive for COVID-19 at home, the site administrators should be informed, which starts the contact tracing process.
If a student tests positive at school, they are immediately sent home to begin home isolation:
- Stay home for at least 5 days.
- Isolation can end after day 5 if no fever for 24 hours, and other symptoms are not present or are resolving and a diagnostic specimen* collected on day 5 or later tests negative.
- If unable to test or choosing not to test, and symptoms are not present or are resolving, isolation can end after day 10.
- If fever is present, isolation should be continued until fever resolves.
- If symptoms, other than fever, are not resolving, continue to isolate until symptoms are resolving or until after day 10.
- Wear a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days, especially in indoor settings (see Section below on masking for additional information).
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What are the quarantine protocols for close contacts?
For unvaccinated:
- Stay home for at least 5 days after your last contact with a positive case.
- Test on day 5.
- Quarantine can end after day 5 if symptoms are not present and a diagnostic specimen collected on day 5 or later tests negative.
- If unable to test or choosing not to test, and symptoms are not present, quarantine can end after day 10.
- Wear a well-fitting mask around others for a total of 10 days, especially in indoor settings.
- Strongly encouraged to get vaccinated or boosted.
- If testing positive, follow isolation (positive) recommendations.
- If symptoms develop, test and follow isolation (positive) recommendations.
For fully vaccinated, or recently positive within 90 days:
- Test on day 5 from the last date of contact to the positive case.
- Wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days, especially in indoor settings (see Section below on masking for additional information).
- If testing positive, follow isolation (positive) recommendations.
- If symptoms develop, test and follow isolation (positive) recommendations.
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What if I want to place my child in a shortened quarantine?
Shortened Quarantine can end after day 5, if no symptoms and a diagnostic specimen is collected on Day 5 or later from the date of last exposure and tests negative.
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How do you identify a close contact?
It’s zero to six feet and being around a person with COVID for 15 minutes or more in a 24 hour period.
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Why are we no longer using modified quarantine?
Modified quarantine requires students to test twice per week within the 10 day period. Due to the new rapid testing process and new company, the modified testing option is no longer needed.
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Why do I have to submit a copy of my insurance card for COVID testing?
In order to keep the testing at no cost to the individual being tested and the school district, per federal law, LSA will bill your insurance carrier for the cost of testing. Users are required to provide a photo of their insurance card when signing up through GVP to ensure we have the correct information.
The medical record number is also needed so the state verifies that you are testing a real person. This is to ensure that the company is performing ethical testing. Health plans and issuers cannot require the presence of symptoms or a recent known or suspected exposure, or otherwise impose medical screening criteria on coverage of tests.
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Will I be billed for any costs related to COVID testing?
LSA will not bill you for any costs that may not be covered by the insurance carrier. Many people will receive EOBs (Explanation of Benefits) from their insurance carrier which may show an amount for patient responsibility. However, LSA will not bill any individual for this portion deemed as patient responsibility.
The only situation where an individual may receive a bill is if they were issued a check directly from the insurance carrier. This typically occurs with Blue Shield PPO plans where the insurance carrier will send a check directly to the individual instead of the laboratory. In this instance, it is expected that the individual will remit payment to LSA for the exact amount of the check that was received. If this payment is remitted, LSA may bill this individual to collect the exact amount of the check that was received.
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How can I receive assistance if I need help with registering/signing up through GVP?
There are multiple outlets for receiving assistance with registering/signing up for COVID testing through GVP.
LSA testing staff are available between 8am-9am on the designated day for each school site to help parents/staff through the registration process.
Individuals can email GVP for any technical support at support@globalviruspass.com
Robert McConnell and Brad Miedema from LSA are available to host district wide and/or school wide training sessions to help individuals register with GVP.
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How reliable is rapid testing for COVID-19?
Based on test availability, LSA uses three different rapid test products (Abbott BinaxNow, Accessbio Carestart, Quidel Quickvue). All three of these antigen tests are reputable products that provide immediate results. PCR testing is still the most accurate test for COVID-19 testing. However, with the much quicker result turnaround time of antigen testing (15 minutes vs 48 hours), the antigen testing provides a good solution for schools to catch positives, and potential positives, quickly.
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Do I have to make an appointment each week to receive COVID testing?
No appointment is necessary for weekly school site testing, after a one-time registration. Registration and appointments are necessary for testing at one of the three district-wide testing centers.
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How do you ensure that every school site is following the Covid-19 protocol?
Principals are responsible for ensuring that staff and students follow the protocols.
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What are the Covid symptoms that a student must exhibit to be sent home?
Students:
If a student has any of the more common symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell), they must schedule COVID-19 testing and/or visit with a healthcare provider.
The student may return to school after they test negative for COVID-19 (with a copy of a negative test) or after evaluated by a healthcare provider and given an alternate diagnosis (with communication from a healthcare provider to school);
- If symptoms improved AND fever-free for > 24 hours w/o fever-reducing medications
- If the student/staff showing Covid-19 symptoms is not tested or evaluated by a healthcare provider, they must stay at home and isolate for at least 10 days (Test or 10)
- If a student/staff displays any of the following symptoms; Fever [100.4°F/38°C or greater] or chills, sore throat, headache, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion/runny nose, they must schedule COVID-19 testing and/or visit with a healthcare provider.
The student showing Covid-19 symptoms may return to school after they test negative for COVID-19 (with a copy of a negative test) or after being evaluated by a healthcare provider and given an alternate diagnosis (with communication from a healthcare provider to school).
If symptoms improved AND fever-free for > 24 hours w/o fever-reducing medications, the student may return to school.
Siblings/Household Contacts:
Siblings and other household contacts must stay home until a negative COVID-19 test is confirmed or a healthcare provider provides an alternate diagnosis (e.g., migraine, strep throat)
If a student has any one of the following symptoms (fever [100.4°F/38°C or greater] or chills, sore throat, headache, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, congestion / runny nose), they may return to school after symptoms improved and fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
- Siblings and other household contacts do not need to stay home.
- COVID-19 testing and/or healthcare provider evaluation are not necessary unless required by a school nurse who suspects COVID-19 [Updated October 27, 2020].
If a household member (incl. caregiver) has any of the more common symptoms of COVID-19 or two or more of the COVID-19 symptoms listed above.
- They should contact their healthcare provider or schedule testing immediately.
- Students and staff must stay home until their household member tests negative for COVID-19.
- If the household member tests positive for COVID-19, your family must quarantine for 10 days from their last contact [Updated, 2020].
Students with known underlying health conditions may be at increased risk of severe illness. These health conditions may include Diabetes (Type I and II), immune system deficiencies, or chronic respiratory conditions. If your child has a chronic health condition, please consult with your child’s healthcare provider to determine if/when it is safe to attend school.
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How often are school facilities cleaned and sanitized?
Our facilities are cleaned every day. If there is a positive case, facilities are to be cleaned within 24 hours. If someone tested positive for COVID in the last 24 hours, the areas that they occupied have to and will be cleaned and disinfected. If less than 24 hours have passed, then the space must be cleaned and disinfected. If more than 24 hours have passed, just cleaning is enough. If more than three days have passed, no extra cleaning is necessary.
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How can students keep up with classes while in quarantine?
All students will be allowed to go into independent study through their chromebook that has work uploaded to their file so that they can participate in class activities in real time. Once they return they will submit their work to their teachers. All of our study apps have been added to the chromebooks.