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Adapt, Advance, Achieve: Connecticut’s Plan to Learn and Grow Together
Reporting Illnesses and Addressing Vulnerable Populations
Requirements
Staying at Home
• Instruct students and staff to inform the school if they are sick with COVID-19 related
symptoms, particularly if they had a known contact with someone diagnosed with
COVID-19 and have also had contact with the school population. They must stay
home when they are sick, especially if they have COVID-19 symptoms such as fever
and cough. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has provided
guidance that confirms that, during a pandemic, it is permissible to ask employees if
they are experiencing symptoms of the pandemic virus (such as fever, chills, cough,
shortness of breath, or sore throat.) Employers must maintain all information about
employee or student illness as a confidential medical record.
• Develop consistent protocols for information reporting, and a point person to
appropriately receive and safeguard this information, such as the school nurse,
district nursing supervisor, or principal.
• Educate staff and families about when to stay home. Schools should properly
communicate the content of this or any updated guidance.
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Instruct staff and students (or their parents and guardians) to perform a selfassessment
prior to leaving for school to identify fever and other possible
COVID-19 symptoms. Communicate this expectation and provide parents with
reminders about the symptoms consistent with COVID-19 that require keeping
their students at home. Examples include a check-list for parents or a webbased
application such as Connecticut How We Feel.
• Establish and communicate school-wide sick protocols, including signs and symptoms
of COVID-19, and temperature thresholds requiring students or staff to stay home.
• Consistent with the applicable laws and school policies, offer options for school
and work to staff and students with special healthcare needs (e.g., remote learning
options, alternate or modified job responsibilities).
Guidance
Encourage staff members and teachers with concerns about individual risk factors to talk
to their healthcare provider to assess their risk for working in an environment where social
distancing might be difficult to maintain.
• Review and consider revising policies and procedures related to student and
employee absences to ensure that policies do not incentivize coming into school
even if sick (e.g., “perfect attendance” policies).
• Work with board counsel to properly apply and communicate any applicable leaves
available for employees should they become sick, or have to quarantine due to
exposure to COVID-19.
Returning to School
• Follow the relevant public health guidelines in place at that time and communicate
with the local public health official related to the return. Review LEA policies to
ensure they are consistent with those guidelines. At present, CDC’s criteria to help
inform when employees should return to work includes:
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If they have been sick with COVID-19
If they have recently had close contact with a person with COVID-19