Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Latest COVID-19 Guidance From IDPH and CDC

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Latest COVID-19 Guidance From IDPH and CDC

Dear District 30 Family,

Last night, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) officially adopted recently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and incorporated it into their Updated Public Health Guidance for Schools. 

This updated guidance shortens the isolation and quarantine periods for public and private PreK-12 schools in alignment with the CDC’s COVID-19 Quarantine Guidance and COVID-19 Isolation Guidance.

Leveraging these options will be handled in the following manner:

POSITIVE COVID-19 CASES:

Regardless of vaccination status, staff or students who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate for a minimum of 5 days and a maximum of 10 days after the first day of symptoms or the specimen collection date from a positive viral test for asymptomatic individuals.  

Staff or students must be fever-free without fever-reducing medication for 24 hours, diarrhea/vomiting have ceased for 24 hours, and other symptoms have improved.

Staff or students must wear a well-fitting mask around others (including at home) for 5 additional days.

Full participation daily RUVNA will continue for parents of impacted students.

Students may not engage in sports competitions or musical performances during the 5 additional days.

CLOSE CONTACTS to a POSITIVE COVID-19 CASE:

Students and staff who are up to date with their COVID vaccines and free of symptoms do not need to quarantine. Staff is considered up to date if they have received a primary series of the vaccine with the addition of a booster. Students are considered up to date 14 days after the second shot of their primary series.

Unless participating in Test-to-Stay (TTS), other close contacts must: 

Quarantine for 5 days from the last date of exposure.

Wear a mask around others for five additional days and remain asymptomatic.

All individuals who experience close contact:

Should monitor symptoms and test on day 5, if possible. 

If symptoms begin, the individual should isolate and must obtain a negative PCR COVID-19 test to return to school. 

Effective Immediately Moving Forward & Retroactively Beginning January 13

Effective immediately, District 30 will implement the updated guidance moving forward. Please allow us 24 hours to contact impacted staff and parents with a revised return to school plan. Therefore, for those currently in COVID-19 quarantine and isolation, our goal will be to modify existing plans according to this new guidance by Thursday, January 13. We have updated our School Operations website and Frequently Asked Questions accordingly.

We remain committed to full in-person learning and know that our efforts provide the most effective education for our students with social connections to their peers and our exceptional educators. We have learned a lot about running school as safely and effectively as possible during this global pandemic. We will continue our mitigations that sustain our in-person efforts as we support students in COVID-19 protocols. 

Thank you for your continued partnership and support as we navigate this time together!

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian K. Wegley
​​​​​​​Superintendent