Responding to Cases and Suspected Cases
Last updated April 3, 2023
The Bellevue School District has established reporting protocol 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 a student or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, the BSD COVID Cases in School Dashboard will be updated.
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.
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.
Who do we notify when someone tests positive for COVID-19?
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.