K-12 Schools Public Health Update

Dear Colleagues,

I pray this email finds you well.  Today’s correspondence will focus on three topics: 1) Case reporting; 2) Testing; 3) LA County specific guidance.

Case Reporting: The Department of Catholic Schools is collaborating with multiple ministries in the ACC to ensure we can efficiently and effectively respond to reported positive COVID-19 cases among employees and students. We understand that the process of reporting cases to local public health and to the ADLA is intensive and we all look forward to the day when this is no longer necessary. For now, we ask for you to align with the process we have established to verify your reports and route your questions and follow-up to the appropriate individual on the ACC COVID Response Team, HR, or your DCS regional team. We are all working together at the ACC to support you during these moments of urgency and thank you for your patience.

Testing: With the reopening of schools for in-person instruction, the demand for testing services has increased. As you know, we have been communicating frequently on testing resources and continue to identify testing firms who have the capacity and access to federal and state funding to partner with our schools. For example, after many weeks of collaboration and advocacy, Heluna Health has engaged with 80 of our schools in LA County on testing services and are preparing to start. This is a significant step forward and we appreciate everyone’s patience as this has taken longer than everyone expected to get up and running. As a reminder, weekly COVID-19 testing is NOT mandatory. DCS recommends schools, particularly those in high-transmission communities, to conduct testing if able to reduce the risk of on-campus transmission. The DCS has received feedback from callers and emails stating that the ADLA/DCS is mandating testing in Catholic schools; we are not. Please review your local public health order to determine what, if any, testing is required. Also note that school workers, paid and unpaid, must demonstrate proof of vaccination, or submit to weekly testing by October 15^th.

LA County: Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar with LACDPH earlier this week. Attached please find two important documents: 1) TK-12 School Support memo from LACDPH; and, 2) Parent update memo from LACDPH.
 

• TK-12 Support memo: This memo describes the new LACDPH Call Center which is now active. It also describes voluntary site visits by LACDPH staff to provide schools will support on the interpretation and implementation of public health guidance, such as close contacts, quarantine and the like. These are valuable resources and should be used by schools experiencing questions and challenges. These are services provided by the LACPDH and we HIGHLY RECOMMEND their use, especially where there is confusion or lack of clarity in the identification of close contacts. We at DCS do our best to provide the best advice we can, but LACDPH is in a far better position to provide expert public health counsel to schools.
  • Please note: These resources DO NOT replace the current case reporting protocol to the ACC. These LACDPH tools are in place to support you and your school with implementation of public health orders, especially when positive cases emerge. LACDPH is now using the call center as a function of their exposure management plan guidance; please see the link below. DO NOT share the phone number or email address in this memo with anyone outside of administration, or beyond your COVID response team.

 

• Parent Update memo: This resource provides parents information related to public health guidance for schools, action steps they can take to help minimize transmission and information they can access to learn more. Please share this with your parents. A Spanish language version is forthcoming.

 

• Exposure Management Plan Guidance:LACDPH has updated their exposure management plan guidance; please see the link: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/docs/protocols/ExposureManagementPlan_K12Schools.pdf
  • Updates include:
    • Added a requirement for schools to have classroom seating charts and participant rosters for persons participating in school extracurricular programs to facilitate identification of close contacts of persons with COVID-19 at the school.
    • Included school visitors as part of the school exposure management plan.
    • Added a Case Reporting Call Center for schools that need assistance on exposure management, including case reporting, and to report clusters of 3 or more cases within 14 days.
    • Clarified that the shortened quarantine option requires a diagnostic test that is an FDA-authorized viral COVID testing site.

Finally, today we remember the victims of the terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001. Please take a moment today to stop and pray for those who were lost, those whose lives will be changed forever and those who made the ultimate sacrifice on that day and the days after to protect our freedom as Americans at home and abroad. It’s worth noting that none of the young people who we are entrusted with serving today were born when this tragedy struck. This is a learning moment for them and I ask that you take the time to teach them about what happened that day and how despite a cowardly attempt to destroy what God has blessed, our nation endures. We Will Never Forget. God Bless the United State of America.

 


Paul M. Escala
Senior Director and Superintendent of Schools
 
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
3424 Wilshire Blvd., 2^nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010
p (213) 637-7234 │ f (213) 637-6140
www.lacatholicschools.org │ www.la-archdiocese.org
 

 
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