Local school districts update COVID-19 protocols as students return from winter break

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, January 6, 2022

As students make their way back to campuses after the winter break, COVID-19 has been rapidly transmitting throughout East Texas.

The Northeast Public Health District on Thursday reported Smith County’s community transmission level remains “uncontrolled” and “substantial,” especially in congregate areas like schools.

Area school district officials said they are prepared to adapt their protocols as needed and continue to keep the safety of their students and staff at the forefront.

Tyler ISD recently updated parts of its “Return to School” plan, including the screening and isolation protocols.

Although the district doesn’t require masks, Tyler ISD “highly recommends students and staff consider wearing a face cover during rising and/or peak infectious seasons as a way to prevent the spread of disease when other mitigations (such as vaccines) are not utilized, especially when indoors, in tight spaces, and/or as part of heterogeneous groups outside of normal cohorts,” district documentation reads.

The Return to School plan consists of regulations such as staff requiring self-screening prior to entering a Tyler ISD building, daily screening of students before sending them to school, and not allowing students, staff or visitors to enter a district facility if they experience COVID-19 symptoms or are waiting for results from a COVID test.

Tyler ISD also mentions an individual diagnosed with COVID-19 may return to school when all three of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention symptom-based criteria are met, which are five days since the start of symptoms or diagnosis, 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medications and improved symptoms among the individual.

If a staff member or student has symptoms that could be due to the virus, and would like to return to school before the five-day quarantine period, established recently by the CDC, they must obtain a medical professional’s note allowing them to return on an alternative diagnosis or if the individual obtains a negative COVID-19 result (no home tests accepted), the updated protocols state.

Since Tyler ISD students returned to campus on Jan. 3, the district’s COVID-19 tracker online shows 21 positive cases among students and staff. The district’s website states “some cases may be posted twice since there are situations where students or staff may be on more than one campus.”

Lindale ISD, which returned on Monday, has also established updated protocols for campuses.

Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt said the district will not allow any visitors in the cafeteria, along with any volunteers in the classrooms for the month of January. Surratt said the district will keep parents informed about any changes.

Surratt informed parents the number of cases is currently in a “good” spot, but the district will continue to keep the parents informed.

“Our COVID numbers are really good, we have five staff members across the district that have tested positive and have a few students across the district,” Surratt said on Wednesday. “Those who are here on campus and when they test positive, we will continue to keep parents and family members informed.”

For students in Chapel Hill ISD, the district is reviewing recommendations from local health officials about back-to-school COVID-19 precautions. Students returned on Jan. 5. The COVID-19 tracker on the district’s website had not been updated since Dec. 9, as of Thursday afternoon.

Bullard ISD will be on break until Jan. 11, but according to the district, current protocols listed online will continue to be enforced when students come back.

The district will continue to follow its Return to School plan and recommends mask usage, although not required. Some of the campus protocols include: self-screening for staff, students and families; sanitizing school buses; disinfecting high-traffic areas daily and throughout each day, quarantine rules for those who are positive or symptomatic and more.

Before the holiday break, there were only two positive cases across Bullard ISD, according to an online tracker last updated on Dec. 27.