Student and Staff COVID-19 Cases

When a student or staff member tests positive or is presumptive positive for COVID-19, the school and/or school nurse should be contacted immediately. NHSD will contact the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) and follow their guidance regarding school closure, who must quarantine and for how long, and whether the operational model must change.

All contact tracing is conducted by the ACHD and the ACHD will issue quarantine notices when necessary. The district may be asked to assist in this process and contact families when the county case count is high. Please know all families who are contracted directly by the school district are done so at the direction of the ACHD. NHSD does not quarantine people.

Students and staff members who had COVID-19 can return to our buildings after their 10-day isolation period ends.

Students and staff members who are quarantining due to known COVID-19 exposure can return to our buildings after their 10-day quarantine period ends.

Communication

All families will be notified of all known COVID-19 cases in the district. Communication will be sent as necessary through the district’s normal modes of communication including email, district website, app and social media. Cases can also be viewed at any time on the district's COVID-19 Tracker.

If a student is uncomfortable attending school in-person at any time, the student can attend virtually full time until they are comfortable returning to school in-person. Families should contact their student’s teacher(s) to let them know this shift is taking place and to ensure the lines of communication are open.

Household COVID-19 Cases

If there is a known COVID-19 case in a student or staff member’s household, the school and/or school nurse should be contacted immediately. Action by the district will be taken as necessary based on guidance from the Allegheny County Health Department. In many cases, the student or staff member will need to quarantine for 10 days.

Families should contact their student’s teacher(s) to let them know the student will be fully virtual until their quarantine ends and to ensure the lines of communication are open.

Known Exposure

Students are staff members who are directly exposed to or in close contact as defined by the CDC to someone with COVID-19 should quarantine for 10 days.

Families should contact their student’s teacher(s) to let them know the student will be fully virtual until their quarantine ends and to ensure the lines of communication are open.

Per the Allegheny County Health Department and the CDC, quarantine can end after seven days if - with careful daily monitoring - the person does not develop symptoms and tests negative for the virus. The test should be performed on the fifth day after the exposure or later. Quarantine cannot end before Day 7. If you have not received a negative test by Day 7 you must remain in quarantine until you receive your negative test result or until Day 10.

Cold & Flu Season

With the cold and flu season here, please pay attention to your health, know the signs and symptoms of coronavirus and if you are sick, please stay home.

Students can forgo their in-person days and join their classes remotely at any time.

For the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, NHSD will only shut down a school when the threshold of cases defined by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for that building is reached and/or it's recommended by the Allegheny County Health Department.

State thresholds to close are based on the school’s size (number of students) and total cases over the most recent 14-day period.

When a school closes, the closure will continue only until the building is cleaned and contract tracing is completed. The school will reopen with a building case count of zero.

NHSD’s COVID-19 Tracker includes each school's most recent 14-day case count.

The best way to prevent illness is to avoid exposure.

Families, students and staff members are reminded to take the same precautions we have in place at school when in public. Please wear a mask, maintain a safe social distance from others and wash your hands frequently.

The actions you take outside of school will help ensure we can safely keep your students in school. More guidelines from the CDC to protect yourself and your family can be found here.