School districts are required to follow guidance that is put forward by the MA Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). These guidelines are based on CDC guidelines and are subject to change when new protocols are released. 

Isolation refers to the time that a POSITIVE case has to stay separate from others. 

• Think, Isolation = Infected 

Quarantine refers to the time that a close contact must stay home to make sure they are not infected.

• Think, Quarantine = Questioning infection

In most situations, schools will accept either an at-home (antigen) or PCR test. Note that PCR tests are more reliable than home tests and can detect COVID-19 infection sooner.

PCR Test is still considered the "gold standard" of testing. It detects the genetic material of COVID-19 in your body and is more sensitive (detects earlier) than an antigen test. 

Antigen Test detects the proteins on the surface of COVID-19. They are good at telling you if you have an active infection, but there needs to be a certain "amount" of virus present to be detected. When a person is in the early stages of infection, not a lot of virus is in the nose, from which the samples are taken. So, antigen tests can miss early cases of COVID-19. This is why, even if you get a negative home test, you should remain home if you are still feeling sick - if your symptoms become worse, your viral load may be increasing. 

The goal of vaccination is to prevent severe illness (that needs hospitalization) and death. The COVID-19 vaccines have done a really good job at this and are working. Vaccinated people may still test positive, especially for the variants that have developed, but are more likely to have less severe symptoms, have symptoms for a shorter period of time, and be contagious for a shorter period of time.

People are considered “fully vaccinated” 2 weeks after the final dose of their vaccine series (this will be 2 weeks after their 2nd dose of Pfizer vaccine). If your child has only had 1 dose of vaccine and comes in contact with a positive case (outside of school), they will need to quarantine.

If your child has any of the following symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, please do not send him/her to school and call the school to report the absence. Your child should be tested for COVID-19. This can be a home test or a PCR test (PCR tests do detect COVID-19 sooner than antigen home tests, but we accept either). If your child tests negative, he/she may come to school once symptoms have improved (and they’ve been fever free for 24 hours). If your child’s symptoms do not improve or they get worse, seek follow up testing with a healthcare provider. 

• Fever (100.0° Fahrenheit or higher), chills, or shaking chills
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath 
• New loss of taste or smell 
• Muscle aches or body aches 
• Cough (not due to other known cause, such as chronic cough) 
• Sore throat (when in combination with other symptoms) 
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea (when in combination with other symptoms) 
• Headache (when in combination with other symptoms) 
• Fatigue (when in combination with other symptoms) 
• Nasal congestion or runny nose (not due to other known causes, such as allergies) (when in combination with other symptoms)

Please note that with the new variant, symptoms may be VERY minor to start

You should get a home (antigen) test for your child. A PCR test can remain positive for months after someone has had COVID-19 (because the genetic material remains, but not the "infectious" parts of the virus). A home test will show if your child has an active COVID-19 infection. Report the absence to the school nurse and follow up with your pediatrician.

If your child has a known COVID-19 exposure and develops symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, they should NOT be sent to school. It is VERY highly recommended that they get tested. If they are negative, they should not return to school until symptoms have fully resolved. If unvaccinated, the student must complete the full quarantine period before returning. A test 5 days after exposure is recommended for all close contacts.

If your child tested positive on an at-home test, please: 

1. Call the school and report the result to the school nurse.
2. Call your child’s pediatrician to report the positive test result.
3. Your child will need to isolate at home for at least 5 days. 
4. Return to school after 5 days of isolation (on day 6 or later)
   ONLY IF:

1. Your child has been without fever for at least 24 hours (without taking fever-reducing medications); 

2. Has experienced significant improvement in other symptoms or has NO symptoms, and,

3. Is able to wear a mask at all times other than when eating or drinking.

The first day of symptoms is “Day 0”. If your child never had symptoms, day 0 would be the day that he/she tested positive. From here, count out 5 days. Day 6 is their return date (as long as symptoms have significantly improved or have completely resolved). They must wear a mask on days 6-10.

No - under the guidelines, people who test positive for COVID-19 do NOT need a negative test to return. If you want to test your child before they return to school, use an at-home test on day 5 of their isolation.

If you test your child during their isolation and they still test positive, do NOT send them back to school. A positive at-home test means they are still shedding virus (in other words, that they are contagious). They should complete the full 10 day isolation in this case and return on day 11. Use the same counting method as above, but return on day 11.

Under the protocols, your child can return on day 6 as long as he/she has been fever free for 24 hours and his/her symptoms have improved. HOWEVER - if your child is still having any symptoms, he/she STILL may be contagious. The safest option is to stay home while still having symptoms. We want kids back in school, BUT if they return and are still contagious, the virus can spread to others around them.

If your child is FULLY VACCINATED and in contact with someone who is positive for COVID-19 - he/she CAN come to school as long as he/she has NO symptoms. If your child develops ANY symptoms, do not send him/her to school and seek testing. They should wear a mask for 10 days following the exposure.

The quarantine length is 5 days from the last exposure (with a return on day 6 as long as the close contact has NO symptoms). It is HIGHLY recommended that they get tested on day 5. A mask must be worn on days 6-10.

NOTE: When the positive case is in the home, a different timeline must be followed. Please see the question "Someone in our household has tested positive for COVID-19. When can my child return to school?"

If your child has a known COVID-19 exposure and develops symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, they should NOT be sent to school. It is VERY highly recommended that they get tested. If they are negative, they should not return to school until symptoms have fully resolved. If unvaccinated, the student must complete the full quarantine period before returning. A test 5 days after exposure is recommended for all close contacts.

Your child does NOT have to quarantine if he/she had COVID-19 in the past 90 days AS LONG AS YOUR CHILD HAS NO SYMPTOMS. If your child develops symptoms, you should get a home (antigen) test for your child. A PCR test can remain positive for months after you have had COVID (because the genetic material remains, but not the "infectious" parts of the virus). A home test will show if your child has an active COVID infection. Report the absence to the school nurse and follow up with your pediatrician.

If the case is in your home, the quarantine for close contacts begins on day 5 of the positive person's isolation. This is because household members are technically being re-exposed every day during the positive case’s 5 day isolation period. The quarantine begins when the positive case’s isolation ends and then lasts for 5 days (so for ease of calculation, return on the 11th day after the positive individual developed symptoms). Vaccinated students may return to school instead of staying home, but must be masked through this period. Unvaccinated students must stay home through day 10, and may return, masked for 5 more days. 

NOTE: The current variant is so contagious that if there is a positive case in the house, this protocol will be required. If the positive case can leave the home and live elsewhere during their isolation period, then the close contact’s 5 day quarantine period would begin on the last day that the positive case was in the home. 

The schools are no longer contact tracing cases. Please monitor your own child for symptoms.