Responding to Cases and Suspected Cases
Last updated December 9, 2022
The Bellevue School District has established closure protocols in accordance with guidelines from the Washington State Department of Health (PDF). When a positive case of COVID-19 is discovered in the school setting, BSD alerts Public Health – Seattle & King County.
When we are notified that someone who tested positive for COVID-19 was in person in a school setting during their infectious period, the BSD COVID Cases in School Dashboard will be updated.
Scroll down to learn more about:
- Instruction during isolation
- What is an ‘outbreak’ of COVID-19
- Contact tracing
Instruction During Isolation
Schools should prepare for instructing students who are absent from school due to COVID-19 illness.
How will Bellevue School District provide instruction during isolation?
Bellevue School District will follow existing practices to provide instruction and services for these individuals which may include, but is not limited to:
- Small group/personalized virtual instruction
- Independent learning and practice
- Concurrent and/or recorded instruction
Appropriate supports will be provided as necessary.
Who will provide instruction?
Educators should provide meaningful instruction and connection with the educator and classmates. Educators should establish a clear schedule for students, including:
- The times that students should be joining class, small groups, or checking in with the educator via Teams
- Due dates for independent work completion and/or viewing recorded lessons
- Times and dates students can expect recordings or materials to be posted to Teams/OneNote
What modes of instruction will be offered?
The educator should design the isolation instruction based on the needs of the student. The educator may choose to use multiple modes of instruction. Five possible modes of instruction for students in isolation include:
- Recorded Lessons: pre-recorded lessons or recording in-class lessons and sending to the student later in the day
- Independent Work: assigned work for the student to complete independently
- Virtual/Concurrent Whole Group:
- Student in isolation joins the whole class via Teams
- All students, both in-person and virtual, log into Teams simultaneously (which would support small groups/partner work between in-person and virtual students)
- Educator displays Teams meeting on a Smart Board so students can see each other
- Virtual/Concurrent Small Groups: student(s) in isolation participate in virtual/concurrent small group instruction
- Students in isolation join a small group of in-person students live during class time via Teams
- Multiple students in isolation could be their own small group and meet with the educator while the in-person students are doing independent or small group work
- Virtual Individual Instruction: educator meets one-on-one with a student who is in isolation during a time that works for both the educator and the student/family
What is an ‘outbreak’ of COVID-19?
A COVID-19 outbreak in a school is considered when the following have been met:
- Multiple COVID-19 cases from positive tests comprising at least 20% of students, teachers, or staff within a specified core group
-OR-
- At least 5 cases within a specified core group meeting criteria for a COVID-19 case from a positive test;
-AND-
- The following three criteria are met:
- Cases have a symptom onset or positive test result within 7 days of each other, AND
- There is no evidence that transmission was more likely to have occurred in another setting (e.g., household or outside social contact) outside of the school, AND
- Cases were epidemiologically linked in the school setting or a school-sanctioned extracurricular activity
Contact Tracing
Per guidance from the Washington State Department of Health, BSD may implement contact tracing during an outbreak (as defined above) in consultation with Public Health – Seattle & King County.
How do staff conduct contact tracing?
We start by determining if the student or employee who tested positive was in person at school during their infectious period, which begins 48 hours prior to symptoms starting or their positive test was taken if they have no symptoms.
Then, we find out who the person was in close contact with at school during this time. For those people we identify as close contacts, we will provide the recommendations on how to respond if potentially exposed, as noted above.
How is contact tracing conducted?
We will continue to work with Public Health — Seattle & King County to monitor new cases of COVID-19 in our schools
How does BSD know when someone tests positive for COVID-19?
There are a few different ways we may find out that someone tested positive for COVID-19:
- If it is a student:
- The family may contact the attendance office to let them know their student will be missing school due to testing positive.
- The student may email their teacher to let them know they are sick at home with COVID.
- The student or family may email the school nurse or principal.
- Public Health may contact our district COVID-19 coordinator to let them know they found someone who tested positive during their community contact tracing.
- If it is an employee:
- An employee may report their illness to their supervisor.
- Public Health may contact our district COVID-19 coordinator to let them know they found someone who tested positive during their community contact tracing.
The person who is alerted that someone tested positive then reaches out to either the school nurse or our District COVID-19 Coordinator.
Who do we notify when someone tests positive for COVID-19?
Staff are required to be notified of any exposures per L&I requirements regarding COVID-19 in the workplace.
Bellevue School District will continue to notify our students, staff, and families about cases of COVID-19 in school buildings by posting cases and outbreaks on the district COVID dashboard as we become aware of them.