COVID Notification Clarification

Following last year's notification strategy, if a campus has a test-confirmed COVID-19 case identified, the campus will send a notification to all students and staff at the campus. However, last year districts were also required to conduct contact tracing for students, and students in close contact were required to quarantine. 

TEA is NOT requiring school districts to conduct contract tracing on students at this time. TEA guidance is to notify teachers, staff and families of all students in a classroom, extracurricular or after-school program if a test-confirmed COVID-19 case is identified. Parents are notified that their child “may” have been in contact with a COVID-19 positive individual, but are not provided specific information as the District cannot provide this type of information, according to TEA’s guidelines. Examples of information districts are prohibited from providing: what classroom the COVID positive individual was in, what staff member tested COVID positive

Students who receive a Notice of Positive COVID-19 notification for their campus are expected to attend school UNLESS they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19. According to guidance from the CDC, individuals who have been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual need to watch for fever (100.0 °F or greater), cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms of COVID-19. Watch for symptoms until 14 days after exposure. If your child develops any of these symptoms, please contact a health professional and the school nurse. 

Staff, teachers and students are strongly encouraged to continue mask-wearing as CDC guidance shows that wearing a mask is an effective way to mitigate COVID-19. 

Please visit the VISD COVID-19 website for weekly COVID-19 Updates, Health and Safety Procedures and District Announcements. Please note that these guidelines, protocols and requirements can change at any moment.