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Principal Points
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October 2, 2020
Some have shared with me that the first positive COVID-19 case of a STCS student or staff member was just a matter of time. As a continual optimist, I had hoped otherwise. Still, I also believe "Plan for the worst, hope for the best" has its wisdom as well. So, on Thursday afternoon we quickly turned to our plan.
The RTS plan and Interim Fall Guidance for Catholic Schools... from our diocese were the assets we had hoped (and planned) they would be under such circumstances. There were some strong positive takeaways from this first COVID positive case:- The family followed our RTS plan and kept their symptomatic child at home. This helped limit the amount of contact tracing we needed to do.
- From the time we received notification we took decisive actions, which included sanitizing the classroom and sending out a communication to our STCS families within 2 hours.
- STCS was commended "for the policies and procedures implemented in your school," by the Austin Public Health official with whom Mrs. Umstattd contacted, and we were encouraged to "keep up the great work!"
- Our STCS community received the news very well.
- We had a successful day of school yesterday.
A few additional points to keep in mind for this and any future COVID-19 positive cases:- A sibling (or friend) of a close contact is NOT considered a close contact. The close contact of a close contact does not need to quarantine.
- If you have been around someone who was identified as close contact with a person with COVID-19, closely monitor yourself for any symptoms of COVID-19. You do not need to self-quarantine unless you develop symptoms or if the person identified as a close contact receives a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
- When your child has an illness with COVID-like symptoms and wants to return to school before completing the minimum 10-day stay at home period, the individual must either (a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis or (b) obtain an acute infection test (at a physician’s office, approved testing location, or other site) that comes back negative for COVID-19.
Close Contact
The Interim Fall Guidance for Catholic Schools... refers to “close contact” with an individual who is test-confirmed to have COVID-19. The definition of close contact is evolving with our understanding of COVID-19, and individual nine scenarios should be determined by an appropriate public health agency. In general, close contact is defined as:- being directly exposed to infectious secretions (e.g., being coughed on); or
- being within 6 feet for 15 minutes or greater during the infectious period; however, additional factors like case/contact masking (i.e. both the infectious individual and the potential close contact have been consistently and properly masked), ventilation, presence of dividers, and case symptomatology may affect this determination.
Either (1) or (2) defines close contact if it occurred during the infectious period of the case, defined as two days prior to symptom onset to 10 days after symptom onset until the time the patient is isolated.
St. Theresa Fund
As of about 8:00 AM, the St. Theresa Fund is at 39% of our goal – or over $46,000 in donations! That's so wonderful and so generous! Our hope is that all our families will participate and every gift no matter the amount is a huge help. Click the link to donate to the St. Theresa Fund. Thank you, STCS Families! That's just amazing!
If you missed our Facebook Live event, you can watch the 20-minute presentation here and be inspired by these stories and why your support of the St. Theresa Fund can be a great blessing in these challenging times.
Drop-off and Pick-up Cubbies – We have purchased cubbies for dropping off and picking up items. The first has been placed at the Education Building entrance. We are still waiting on the arrival of the second destined for Elmer Hall school entrance. These cubbies will serve as a way to ensure contactless drop off and pick up of school items.
Principal Coffees – Well, the first ten Principal Coffees are finished. We had a wonderful time building commUNITY. I am so glad we had this time together and I am looking forward to scheduling more Principal Coffees throughout the school year. More on that in the weeks ahead.
Trivia Night was a blast! Special thanks to Mrs. McElwee and Mrs. Hancock for organizing and producing the event to benefit our community and our sand volleyball court.
Have a blessed and beautiful weekend.
St. Theresa, pray for us.
In Christ,
Brian R. Wheeler
Principal
bwheeler@st-theresa.org