COVID-19 and Back to School Guidance & Recommendations

Thursday, August 19, 2021

By Selina O'Shannon

While the benefits from in-person learning highly outweigh those of online learning, safely transitioning students back to school for the 2021 school year must be the top priority. On July 9, 2021, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 schools. These guidelines provided additional information regarding the promotion of the COVID-19 vaccines. In addition, some language was revised to include prevention strategies among students returning to in-person learning. Lastly, the guidelines have also been aligned for those individuals who are fully vaccinated.

Schools are important infrastructures within our communities. It is important for individuals involved that these guidelines be followed to improve life outcomes. Among the several critical strategies shared, the CDC emphasizes the importance of getting as many students as possible vaccinated prior to returning to the classroom to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The following language has been added to support K-12 school districts for the 2021-2022 school year:

• School districts should work with their local public health officials and continue the implementation of applicable laws and regulations as it relates to privacy, monitoring levels of transmission within their community, and the use of screening to detect cases within schools.
• The CDC continues to recommend masking and physical distancing as key prevention strategies. Working with and following the guidelines of your local health advisors is critical. In general, the CDC indicates people do not need to wear masks when outdoors.
• School administrators and public health officials play critical roles in ensuring a safe and supportive environment for all students returning to in-person learning. Schools should communicate their return to in-person learning safety protocols as it pertains to COVID-19 and any changes to these plans to teachers, staff, and families, and directly to older students. Schools should use accessible materials and communication channels in a language and at a literacy level that teachers, staff, students, and families understand.
• School administrators can promote health equity by ensuring all students, teachers, and staff have resources to support physical and mental health.
• School administrators can offer modified job responsibilities for staff at higher risk for severe illness who have not been fully vaccinated while protecting individual privacy.
• Federal and state disability laws may require an individualized approach for working with children and youth with disabilities consistent with the child’s Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), Individualized Education Plan (IEP), or Section 504 plan.
• Administrators should consider adaptations and alternatives to prevention strategies when serving people with disabilities while maintaining efforts to protect all children and staff from COVID-19.

Many schools serving children under the age of 12 who are not eligible for vaccination currently are at more risk. These programs should focus on the implementation of layered prevention strategies to protect those that are and are not fully vaccinated. The CDC continues to promote and encourage the use of the following prevention strategies for all K-12 programs:

• Promoting vaccination
• Consistent and correct mask use
• Physical distancing
• Screening testing to promptly identify cases, clusters, and outbreaks
• Ventilation
• Handwashing and respiratory etiquette
• Staying home when sick and getting tested
• Contact tracing, in combination with isolation and quarantine
• Cleaning and disinfection

COVID-19 has brought about many challenges. However, students with disabilities may be impacted by the CDC’s requirements, specifically as it relates to masks and social distancing. While it is necessary to protect the safety of all students, some students with disabilities may require accommodations to participate fully in the classroom. Here are some accommodations that can be added to your child’s school health plan, 504 plan, or Individualized Education Plan (IEP):

• Students and staff who interact with/are in the same classroom with a student who is deaf or hard of hearing should wear masks that have a clear insert over the mouth or wear a face shield.
• Clear plastic dividers could also be used to protect the student and the teacher, while allowing the student to access facial expressions and/or lip read.
• If staff at school need to assist with close-contact tasks such as toileting, feeding, dressing, or other hand-over-hand assistance, gloves and a face covering should be worn by the staff.
• If a student has a visual impairment, regularly clean/disinfect shared items such braille books, tactile maps, device keyboards, tactile learning toys/manipulatives.
• When possible, provide verbal/auditory indicators to students who are visually impaired, when a student is/is not six feet away from another individual.
• When possible, provide students with a mask break in an outdoor space.
• Provide regular verbal cues and reminders for hand washing, not touching others, not touching one’s own face, and to not share items.
• Use cleaning and disinfecting products without dyes or perfumes.
• If you cannot wear a mask due to a documented medical reason and it is required on the bus or at school, then you may be able to request a policy exemption as an accommodation or to wear alternative protective equipment such as a face shield.

The guidance from the CDC is intended to help schools, local administrators, and local health officials set appropriate and layered prevention strategies that will reduce the transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff at the school level. These strategies are all based on scientific evidence. We encourage families to look at your school’s website for more information regarding their COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-2022 school year. You can also visit Disability Rights Florida COVID-19 Resources for additional information on what procedures your county has in place.