COVID Update

Friday, July 28, 2023

Dear OUSD Community,

We are excited to begin another school year with our students in just a few days, on Monday, August 7th! As has been the case for the last three years, we will be following California Department of Public Health and CalOSHA COVID-19 protocols during the 2023-24 school year. Though COVID-19 is now an endemic respiratory illness, similar to the flu and other viruses, we will continue to follow state and local public health guidelines as long as they apply to us, to help ensure the safety of our staff and students.

Below is a brief overview of our protocols for this year:

Case Reporting

• All staff and students will be asked to report their COVID-19 cases here. [ParentSquare is discontinuing their Health Screener for the 2023-24 school year.] 
• All staff and students are expected to comply with CDPH regulations regarding isolation and quarantine. In short, this means isolating for 5 days following a positive test and then returning to work/school after 5 days, if symptoms have improved and they are fever-free for at least 24 hours. A negative test is NOT required to return to work/school after 5 days.
• Positive individuals should still mask for the 10 days following their positive test, unless they have two sequential negative tests, taken at least one day apart.
• There is no COVID-19 leave bank available for employees from the State of California; employees must use personal or sick leave balances. Student absences due to COVID are excused like any other illness.

Site Support

• All sites will receive another delivery of at-home tests for use by students and staff at the start of the school year. Students are NOT REQUIRED to test at the start of the year, but should keep tests available at-home, in case they are needed following the appearance of symptoms, a known exposure, or return from travel.
• All sites continue to have access to HEPA air purifiers in all spaces.

We will continue to update our internal guidelines should there be additional changes from CalOSHA, CDPH, or ACPHD regarding COVID-19 policies and procedures. You can also review our Isolation Flowchart and One Pager overview for more information.

Thank you for doing your part to keep our community as safe as possible this coming year!