Mandatory Symptom Screening to Begin 10/26/20

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Dear Weston Public School Families,

Starting on Monday the 26th, we will begin daily mandatory symptom screening for all students coming into the schools.  This will happen via SMS and Email requests at 6:15 (with a reminder at 7:15 am) each morning.  This process will continue each day until further notice.

We recognize Grade 6 to 12 student cohort groups only come to the school two days a week, however, because trending information can be helpful in early identification and improved health outcomes when used in collaboration with current Weston Board of Health data, we are asking parents to complete the health screening each day.  Please note: Health screening is only mandatory on the days your student(s) come into the school.  The screening is not required for Remote Learning Academy students.

Any student that comes to school without a Symptom Screening submitted will require parents to submit a symptom assessment within the first 30 minutes of arrival.  Telephone call(s) will be initiated from the School’s main office until the mandated screening is completed.

Teachers will not, and cannot, do the health screening for a student.  Students who are 18 years of age or older may complete the screening themselves (by completing this request); those students who are under 18 years of age will require a parent/guardian to answer the screening questions.

Any student that comes to school when the screening tool identifies they should remain home will be relocated to a waiting area as soon as reasonably possible, and the parent or guardian will be asked to pick up the student.  Students not cleared by the screening tool cannot come to, or remain in, school.

Parents/guardians that may have reported symptoms in error should contact the school nurse to have the screening submission cleared for resubmission.

The health screening platform cannot and does not indicate or identify COVID-19; it merely identifies symptoms that should be followed up by a health professional.  If your reported symptoms result in a failed screening, keep your child at home, and contact the school nurse as soon as possible for next steps.

You may ignore symptom screening requests on holidays.

If you are not receiving the SMS or email screening messages or have other technical questions, please contact the Screening Helpdesk.

Privacy of Data: The health screening platform and the information held within it are protected personal data. As such, access to the information will be handled in the following manner:

  •  Communications about individual screenings cannot and will not be made public.
  •  Data in aggregate will be used by the Weston Board of Health, the WPS Health Director, and the WPS Administration to identify trends and make decisions to protect the health and safety of our community.
  •  The school nurse is the only person with access to specific symptomatology data.
  •  School office personnel and administrators only access submitted/missing and cleared/not cleared information for the purpose of tracking down students without a daily screening submitted and for recording attendance information.

This process will only work if we have consistent daily symptom reporting by all community members.  Thank you for doing your part to ensure the health and safety of our school community.

 

Regards,

Jamy Gaynor, Ed.D., MS, RN, NCSN

Director of Health Services

Midge Connolly, Ph.D.

Superintendent of Schools