All Minnesota residents ages 6 months and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC recommends that everyone who can get vaccinated should do so at the first opportunity available to them.

There is no cost for the vaccine. You do not need to provide a government-issued ID or medical insurance to be vaccinated, and no question about immigration status is ever asked.

If you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccine or other vaccines your child may need, talk to your child’s health provider.

To find upcoming clinics and more information, visit spps.org/covidvaccine.

Face masks are optional in all SPPS buildings and on school transportation when community levels of COVID-19 are low to medium in Ramsey County. Masks are required when community levels of COVID-19 are high in Ramsey County. This applies to all staff, students and visitors (ages 2 and older), regardless of a person’s vaccine status, unless a person has a qualifying exemption.

Community levels for COVID-19 are updated by the CDC every Thursday. SPPS will notify families and staff if COVID-19 levels are high and masks become required.

SPPS strongly recommends wearing masks for those in the situations below, regardless of community levels:

• Those who are unvaccinated or not eligible for the vaccine
• People who are immunocompromised or at high risk for a severe reaction to COVID-19
• Staff working with immunocompromised individuals and those ineligible for the vaccine
• Staff and students who have completed a five-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19 should wear a mask for an additional five days after returning to school to reduce potential spread
• Those with a household member who has recently tested positive for COVID-19
• Ill students being evaluated by the health office or waiting to be picked up to reduce potential spread

SPPS is committed to maintaining in-person learning opportunities. Although SPPS is unable to implement physical distancing in most circumstances due to classroom and building infrastructure limitations, we will focus efforts on other key prevention strategies to help reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

Families should conduct a health screening every morning before sending their students to school or the bus stop. School staff will also monitor for symptoms throughout the school day. 

Answer the following questions each morning before sending your child to school:

1. Did my child recently test positive for COVID-19?
2. Does my child have any of the COVID-19 symptoms listed above, even if they have completed their primary vaccination series, received a booster shot, or previously had COVID-19? 

If you answered YES to any of the above:

• Do not send your child to school, even if they are fully vaccinated. Report your child’s absence to your school and contact your child’s health care provider.
• Report your child’s symptoms to the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System to receive information about next steps.

SPPS’s testing plans for school year 2022-23 are based on information and availability of viral test kits from the Minnesota Department of Health. The purpose of the testing program is to increase access to testing for Minnesota's children and educators. The CDC provides additional information on the value of COVID-19 testing, at What to Know About COVID-19 Testing in Schools.

The State of Minnesota is providing at-home test kits to K-12 schools for use by staff and students. Fulfillment of test orders depends on available supply. MDH does not guarantee test orders will be fulfilled.

Any positive COVID-19 test result should be reported using the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System. Even with a negative test result, students and staff who are experiencing symptoms should not return to school or work until symptoms have improved and they have been fever free for 24 hours.  

BinaxNow testing instructions are available from the manufacturer in English and Spanish. We are unable to reproduce instructions in other languages. 

• HOW TO VIDEO: A Guide for the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Self Test: youtu.be/baQQfoX-JXo 
• BinaxNOW: What You Need to Know: abbott.com/corpnewsroom/diagnostics-testing/BinaxNOW-what-you-need-to-know.html

For routine testing, please use other testing resources in the community including your health care provider, local pharmacies and community test sites. Ordering Your Free At-Home Test Kit or find a COVID-19 Community Testing Site. Our schools cannot meet the needs of all employees and families in regard to testing supplies, so other options should be considered.

Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 will isolate for 5 days and can return to school and work if they have been fever-free for 24 hours and have no or improved symptoms. Masks are strongly recommended for an additional 5 days after their isolation period when they return to school and work.

Effective 8/5/22, unvaccinated students and staff are no longer required to quarantine for 5 days if a household member has COVID-19. If a household member tests positive for COVID-19, all students and staff from that household are strongly encouraged to wear a mask at school and work until the person’s symptoms are gone. If the student or staff member develops symptoms and/or tests positive for COVID-19, submit a report to the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System to receive information about next steps and do not go to work or school.

Isolation due to a positive COVID-19 case is considered an excused absence. Teachers will share resources and materials through Seesaw/Schoology and other means for students who are home due to COVID-19. Students will have accommodation for extended deadlines or the option to make up work as needed.

SPPS is no longer conducting contact tracing following a positive COVID-19 case report. This means families will not be notified if someone in their student’s class, athletics team, bus or other extracurricular activity has tested positive for COVID-19.

SPPS is required to report confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the Minnesota Department of Health. Confirmed cases will also be published to the SPPS COVID-19 Dashboard.

In-state day and overnight field trips are allowed. Out-of-state field trips (day and overnight) are allowed when COVID-19 community levels are low or medium in Ramsey County and the destination. Face masks may be required and/or trips may need to be canceled when COVID-19 community levels are high in Ramsey County and/or the destination.

Parents/guardians are welcome inside school buildings. Visitors will be required to wear face coverings when community levels of COVID-19 are high in Ramsey County.

Daily building sanitation, improved ventilation and safety reminders posted throughout schools are some of the many steps being taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in our schools and programs. 

Using EPA-approved disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2, custodial staff will significantly increase the wiping down and disinfecting of public spaces and high-touch surfaces across our buildings and throughout the school day. We will also provide greater access to cleaning materials for our teachers and staff so that they can clean and disinfect spaces, as needed.

Strategies to support healthy environments include:

• Following the SPPS COVID-19 Disinfection and Cleaning Procedures for cleaning expectations
• Custodial staff disinfecting common areas per protocol; staff are welcome to disinfect their personal workspace as they see fit
• Ensuring the availability of appropriate supplies to support healthy hygiene behaviors (e.g., soap, hand sanitizer, paper towels, and disinfectant wipes), and strategically placing supplies in areas where they may be frequently used
• Utilizing EPA-approved disinfectant for SARS-CoV-2
• Cleaning and sanitizing drinking fountains

SPPS buildings have air handling equipment that provides filtered outside air to occupied spaces such as classrooms, offices, gymnasiums, cafeterias and auditoriums to maintain good indoor air quality and comfort. Facilities has implemented the following additional measures to help reduce the potential airborne transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19:

• Increasing the amount of ventilation provided by the air handlers when the community spread of COVID-19 is high
• Increasing filtration in the air handlers per OSHA, EPA and ASHRAE
• Running the air handling equipment at least one hour prior to occupancy and one hour after occupancy each day to further flush out the buildings per ASHRAE and EPA. During hot weather, the air handlers are also operated at night to help cool the building down
• Deploying standalone HEPA air purifiers in spaces in which the district’s Indoor Air Quality program has measured elevated levels of CO2

SPPS has built routines of handwashing and respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes) to keep from getting and spreading infectious illnesses including COVID-19 into the daily school schedule for all students and staff. We will teach and reinforce handwashing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and/or the safe use of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

The Minnesota State High School League and Minnesota Department of Education guidelines for athletics and activities continue to be updated regularly. Please refer to the MSHSL sport guidance and information for the most up-to-date information. For more information, please visit spps.org/sports or contact your school's athletic director.