Bibb County Schools updates COVID rules as students, staff return from holiday break

The Bibb County School District announced its updated COVID-19 protocols as students and staff prepare to return to classrooms Thursday.

The guidelines include a mask requirement while indoors, temperature checks and a new quarantine and isolation rules following CDC guidelines as the omicron variant spreads rapidly through the state.

The district is also providing weekly testing for students with parental consent and is continuing to partner with the state health department to provide vaccination clinics.

Quarantine and isolation

Here are the district’s updated rules for students and staff who contract COVID-19 or are exposed to it, based on the most recent CDC guidelines:

• Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate at home for five days beginning with the day they first felt sick or the date of the first positive test, for those who don’t have symptoms.
• At the end of the five-day isolation period, if the person has no symptoms or has gone more than 24 hours without a fever without the use of fever-reducing medication, then the person may end their isolation. Folks who still have a fever have to isolate for 10 days.
• The district may require a doctor’s note if a student or employee isolates more than 10 days. At the end of the isolation period, the person must wear a mask in public
• Those who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 but are boosted or fully vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine within the last six months or the J&J vaccine within the last two months do not have to quarantine at home. Instead, they must wear a mask around others in public for 10 days and it is advised that they get a test within 5-7 days of contact.

For additional information on the quarantine and isolation guidelines visit the district’s website here.

Updated safety protocols

• Masks are required inside all Bibb County School District facilities and on school buses. Masks are not required during meals or when outdoors.
• There is no vaccination or booster requirement, but students and staff are strongly encouraged to get the vaccine or booster if eligible.
• The district will continue to monitor the latest COVID-19 data including positive cases by class, school, grade level and total enrollment. All cases are reported to the Department of Public Health daily.
• Students will follow seating charts as the teachers, staff and administrators update those seating charts.

Contact tracing and notification

• When a positive case is identified, the district will notify parents of students in a class with the individual who tested positive.
• Students can continue to attend school unless contacted directly by the DPH or if they begin to show symptoms, in which case they must follow the guidelines on isolation and quarantine.
• The district expects quarantined students to complete assignments online
• School district employees who test positive will be required to use their own sick leave, even if they are vaccinated.
• Visitors are not currently allowed in schools. Parents are asked to make an appointment before visiting schools.