CFA 2021-2022 School Year

COVID-19 is mostly spread by respiratory droplets released when people talk, cough, or sneeze. The virus may spread to hands from a contaminated surface and then to the nose or mouth, causing infection. That’s why personal prevention practices (such as hand washing and staying home when sick) are important practices covered in this Health and Safety Manual.

Any scenario in which many people gather together poses a risk for COVID-19 transmission. While children generally experience mild symptoms with COVID-19, and, to date, have not been found to contribute substantially to the spread of the virus, transmission from even those with mild or no apparent symptoms remains a risk.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Fever or chills
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• New loss of taste or smell
• Congestion or runny nose
• Cough
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Sore throat
• Headache
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea

This list is not all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported, including gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Fever is determined by measuring a temperature of 100.4°F or greater, or feeling warm to the touch, or giving a history of feeling feverish.

While symptoms in children are similar to adults, children may have milder symptoms. Reported symptoms in children include cold-like symptoms, such as fever, runny nose, and cough. Children with COVID-19 may not initially present with fever and cough as often as adult patients.

Relying upon guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDS), the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), we have developed the following policies in order to take measures aimed at maintaining a safe environment that lowers the risk of viral spread.

We have and will continue to be guided by CFA’s Mission and Core Principles as we keep the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff at the center of our planning and decision-making.

The Health and Safety Committee has focused on all aspects of the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and community when outlining CFA’s policies. The Health and Safety Committee is comprised of the following individuals:

• Head of School, Chair: Ed Ellison
• School Nurse: Amy Croom
• Division Directors: Carla Whitwell, Stephanie Medcalfe, Lynne Kenney
• Middle and Upper School Counselor: Tobi Ragon
• Assistant Head of School for Finance & Operations: Shana Barclay
• Board of Trustees Chair: Porter Young
• Physician: Dr. Peter Kane (CFA Parent & Board of Trustees member)
• Physician: Dr. Trip Meine (CFA Parent)
• Physician: Dr. Elizabeth Meine (CFA Parent)
• Assistant to Head of School: Jennifer Allen

Further Guidance and Directives: As we developed plans to deliver the highest quality educational experience for our students in these uncertain and fluid times, we have looked to the following agencies and institutions for assistance and guidance:

• NC Governor’s Executive Orders
• CDC, NCDHHS, and NHCHD guidance and recommendations
• American Academy of Pediatrics Guidance for School Reopening
• Expert recommendations of physicians serving on our task force
• Guidance and best practices promulgated by NAIS, SAIS, and NCAIS

Rights — Every student, teacher, or staff member should be known, valued, and cared for. This fundamental right accompanies membership in CFA’s school community. It implies we all have a right to expect both emotional and physical safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this means members of our community can reasonably expect a heightened level of concern for their physical health as well as their social-emotional wellbeing. While it is possible that students, teachers, or staff members will be exposed to COVID-19 in the course of their work or studies, everyone is entitled to expect that every effort and reasonable precaution will be taken to prevent this from happening.

Responsibilities — Our commitment also implies that members of our community should Know, Value, and Care for others. This means our interactions with others—friends and strangers, students and adults—should be self-aware, respectful, and courteous. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this means complying willingly with rules and policies designed to keep our community safe and healthy. This means thinking of others, appreciating that their risk tolerance might be lower than ours, and adjusting our behavior with sensitivity and respect. This means respecting policies and expectations, even when inconvenient to ourselves.

In some communities, measures taken to prevent COVID-19 infection have ignited conflicts between the liberty of individuals and perceptions of the common good. We do not expect this strife to plague CFA’s school community. Rather, we expect our respect for and sense of duty to others to be visible in myriad ways, including the following:

• How all members of our community and visitors to our campus wear mask as required, wash and disinfect their hands frequently, and mind physical distancing norms;
• How all members of our community and visitors to our campus follow self-screening guidelines for symptoms of illness and refrain from coming to campus when symptomatic;
• How all members of our community and visitors to our campus interact with each other in and out of the classroom, and take responsibility for maintaining a healthy environment;
• How all members of our community and visitors to our campus treat others—teachers, nurses, custodians, office administrators, maintenance staff, etc.—as people worthy of their respect and deserving of safety themselves; and
• How all members of our community and visitors to our campus comply with self-quarantine rules regarding exposure to COVID-19.

COVID-19 has disrupted life as we knew it. To navigate this public health challenge, mutual respect, trust, and a deep sense of our reciprocal obligations to one another is essential.

*This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Depending upon government regulations and expert recommendations, CFA will operate under the following four scenarios.

Green – Normal school operations with all students on campus. CFA will practice healthy hygiene and encourage students and staff who are not well to stay home from school.

Yellow – All students on campus with increased safety mitigation. CFA may institute additional safety measures, including temperature screening and symptom monitoring for everyone entering the school building; students and staff may wear cloth face coverings; students do not leave campus during the school day; non-essential visitors not allowed in school buildings; food service modified. (More details below)

Red – Remote Learning for students in Grades 1 – 12. CFA will comply with official mandates, but will plan to have LE-K students receive instruction on campus according to regulations governing Child Care facilities. CFA will also endeavor to have additional grades in lower school receive instruction on campus in accordance with the law.

Conducting regular screening for symptoms and ongoing self-monitoring throughout the school day can help reduce exposure. Staff and students are encouraged to self-monitor for symptoms such as fever, cough, or shortness of breath. If a student develops symptoms throughout the day, they must notify an adult immediately.

Staff and students must stay home if:

• They have tested positive for or are showing COVID-19 symptoms, until they meet criteria for return.
• They have recently had close contact* with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 until they meet criteria for return.
• *For CFA purposes, close contact occurs when a person remains within 3 feet of another person for more than 15 minutes during a single, 24-hour period.
• Someone in their household is being tested for COVID-19.

CFA may conduct symptom screening of any person entering the school buildings, including staff, students, family members and other visitors, if they did not screen and complete an attestation prior to arrival. CFA may require all students to be screened at home, and require parents to complete an attestation through the school’s online healthcare application. Employees may be required to complete a similar document online.

• Symptom screening checklist for lower school students can be found below. (This checklist is designed to be administered to a person dropping off a young child.)
• Symptom screening checklist for middle and upper school students or any person entering the building can be found below. (This checklist is designed to be administered to any person middle-school-aged or older, including students, staff, families, or visitors.)
• Fever is determined by a measured temperature of 100.4 °F or greater.

For persons entering the school building during the day who have not completed the online symptom screening, CFA will follow these procedures for taking temperatures:

• Individuals waiting to be screened must stand six feet apart from each other.
• The CFA staff persons taking temperatures will wear a cloth face covering, and will stand six feet apart except when taking another person’s temperature.
• The CFA staff person will use a touchless thermometer to measure the person’s temperature.
• The CFA staff person will wash hands or use hand sanitizer before touching the thermometer.
• The CFA staff person must wash hands or use hand sanitizer after taking temperature.
• The CFA staff person will clean and sanitize the thermometer, using manufacturer’s instructions, between each use.

The CDC does not currently recommend that universal testing through virology or serology testing be used to inform admitting students or staff into school.

Viral tests can only determine potential infection at a single point in time and may miss cases in the early stages of infection.

*Please consult school nurse for guidance prior to testing. The school nurse will also communicate to staff and faculty if a student will need to stay home from school for testing or a quarantine period.

Students who are required to quarantine by CFA due to COVID-19 (infection or close contact) will be able to learn remotely through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous modes. However, students may not elect to learn remotely upon their return.

Individuals who are considered high-risk for severe illness due to COVID-19 include people who:

• Are 65 years of age or older
• Have a high-risk condition that includes:
  • Chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
  • Heart disease with complications
  • Compromised immune system
  • Diabetes, renal failure or liver disease
  • Severe obesity – body mass index of 40 or
  • Other underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, such as diabetes, renal failure or liver disease
  • Undergoing a chemotherapy regimen 

CFA will:

• Post signs at building entrances requesting that people who have been symptomatic with fever and/or cough not enter school buildings.
• Immediately isolate symptomatic individuals to the clinic at the school, and send them home to isolate.
• Require the symptomatic person to wear a cloth face covering or a surgical mask while waiting to leave the facility.
• Provide nurses with approved eye protection for use while interacting with students or staff who present with COVID-19 symptoms.

Cloth face coverings will NOT be placed on:

• Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious.
• Anyone who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the face covering.

Checklist for Parents who think their child may have been infected with COVID-19, or been in close contact with someone who has been infected with COVID-19.

1. Taking your child’s temperature and checking for symptoms that may indicate a COVID-19 infection. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

2. If your child has a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, or is experiencing any of these symptoms, please keep your child home and notify the School Nurse, Amy Croom at 910-470-1755.

3. Please note carefully the date of onset of symptoms. This is critical information for assessing close contacts.


4. The School Nurse will recommend that you monitor your child’s symptoms and / or contact your child’s pediatrician for evaluation.


5. Your child’s pediatrician may recommend that your child get tested for COVID-19. We strongly recommend that your pediatrician request a PCR test, which is known to be highly reliable for accuracy.


6. If you believe your child has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, please contact the School Nurse before seeking a COVID-19 test, as it is possible to be tested too soon for the test results to be reliable.


7. The School Nurse will encourage you to reach out to all non-CFA contacts who you believe may have come into close contact with your child beginning two days before they experienced symptoms, especially if contact was unmasked.


8. The School Nurse is required to contact the New Hanover County Health Department to report a positive COVID-19 case in the school.


9. You can expect to hear from the NHCHD for follow up on contact tracing, although they may not contact you right away.


10. The School Nurse will provide you with information about and the timing of your child’s safe return to school.


As always, the health and safety of our community is our top priority. Our goal is to reduce risk as much as possible by introducing multiple layers of protection and asking each member of our community to remember their obligation to help protect the health of all members of our community.

CFA staff will adhere to the following process for allowing a student or staff member to return to school:

• If a person is diagnosed with COVID-19 by a medical professional based on a test or their symptoms, or does not get a COVID-19 test but has had symptoms, they should not be at school and should stay at home until they (or a family member if younger child) can answer YES to the following three questions:

  • Has it been at least 10 days since the individual first had symptoms?
  • Has it been at least 24 hours since the individual had a fever (without using fever reducing medicine)?
  • Has it been at least 3 days since the individual’s symptoms have improved, including cough and shortness of breath?
• CFA will notify local health authorities of confirmed COVID-19 cases among children and staff (as required by NCGS §130A-136).
• If a student or employee has been diagnosed with COVID-19 but does not have symptoms, they must remain out of school until 10 days have passed since the date of their first positive COVID-19 diagnostic test, assuming they have not subsequently developed symptoms since their positive test.
• If a student or employee that has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or has been presumed positive by a medical professional due to symptoms, they are not required to have documentation of a negative test in order to return to school.
• If a symptomatic person has had a negative COVID-19 test, they can return to school once there is no fever (without the use of fever reducing medicines) and they have felt well for 24 hours, assuming they have not been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
• If a student or employee has been determined to have been in close contact* with someone diagnosed with COVID-19, they must remain out of school for 10 days since the last date of exposure, unless they develop symptoms and/or test positive. In which case, the exclusion criteria above would apply. Parents should closely monitor their child for symptoms until 14 days have passed since the date of last exposure, during which time the student or employee will be required to wear a mask indoors.
• If a student or employee has recovered fully from a confirmed (positive) case of COVID-19 AND is later identified as a close contact of an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19, the student or employee will not be required to quarantine as long as they can provide written certification of a positive PCR test for COVID-19 within three months of the date of the close contact.
• If a student or employee has been fully vaccinated AND is later identified as a close contact of an individual diagnosed with COVID-19, the student or employee will not be required to quarantine as long as they can provide written certification of the date of the final dose of the vaccine.

Social distancing is a key tool to decrease the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing (“physical distancing”) means keeping space between yourself and other people outside of your home.

Should CFA decide to operate in the Yellow Scenario above, CFA staff may:

• Minimize opportunities for sustained exposure (15 minutes or more) by ensuring sufficient social distancing with at least 3 feet between people whenever possible.
• Arrange desks or seating so that students are separated from one another by 3 feet when feasible. If it is not possible to arrange seating 3 feet apart, all students will sit facing the same direction and will wear cloth face coverings.
• Mark 3 feet of spacing to remind students and staff to always stay 3 feet apart in lines and at other times when they may congregate.
• Keep students and teachers in small cohort groups that stay together as much as possible during the day, and from day to day. Limit mixing between cohort groups as much as possible (e.g., during recess, lunch, arrival and dismissal, etc.)
• Students will have the option to participate in the modified lunch program through Flik or bring their own food to school each day. (CFA will provide families with more details about the modified Flik lunch program soon.)
• Limit activities that involve bringing together large groups of people or activities that do not allow for social distancing, including assemblies, in-person field trips, large groups using playground equipment simultaneously, etc.
• Limit non-essential visitors and activities involving external groups or organizations.
• Incorporate virtual events such as field trips, parents/family meetings, assemblies, and performances where possible.
• Place physical barriers such as plexiglass for protection at reception desks and similar areas.
• Provide social distancing floor/seating markings in waiting and reception areas.
• Have staff monitor arrival and dismissal to discourage congregating and ensure students go straight from a vehicle to their classrooms and vice-versa.

Should CFA decide to operate in the Yellow Scenario above, CFA may require all teachers and students to wear cloth face coverings throughout the day, except during lunch or during outdoor activities when students are well dispersed. 

The purpose of masks is to keep respiratory droplets from reaching others to aid with source control. Masks with one-way valves or vents allow exhaled air to be expelled out through holes in the material. This can allow exhaled respiratory droplets to reach others and potentially spread the COVID-19 virus. The CDC does not recommend using masks if they have an exhalation valve or vent.

Additional research is still being conducted on the effectiveness of various forms of cloth face coverings. A recent “proof-of-concept” study by researchers at Duke University found that porous neck gaiters and bandanas were not as effective as three-layered cloth face covering. For these reasons, CFA requires that students and employees not wear masks with valves, neck gaiters, or bandanas. 

Cloth face coverings are not surgical masks, respirators, or other medical personal protective equipment. Face coverings should be worn by staff and students, and are most essential in times when physical distancing is difficult. We will remind each other frequently not to touch the face covering and to wash our hands. Parents should purchase five (5) cloth face coverings for each child attending CFA.

Cloth face coverings will NOT be placed on:

• Anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious.
• Anyone who is incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the face covering without assistance.
• Anyone who cannot tolerate a cloth face covering due to developmental, medical or behavioral health
  needs.

Families can find more information on the proper use, wearing, removal, and cleaning of cloth face coverings, such as CDC’s Guidance on wearing and removing cloth face masks and CDC’s use of cloth face coverings.

Washing hands with soap for 20 seconds or using hand sanitizer reduces the spread of disease. To support increase cleaning and hygiene during the school day, CFA will:

• Establish a schedule for and perform ongoing and routine environmental cleaning and disinfection of high-touch areas (e.g., door handles, stair rails, faucet handles, toilet handles, playground equipment, drinking fountains, light switches, desks, tables, chairs, etc.), and increase frequency of disinfection during high-density times and disinfect all shared objects (e.g., gym or physical education equipment, art supplies, toys, games) between use.
• Provide hand sanitizer (with at least 60% alcohol) at every building entrance and exit, and in every classroom, for safe use by staff and older students.
• Teach and reinforce frequent hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and/or the safe use of hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol by staff and older children.
• Reinforce hand washing during key times such as: Before eating food; After using the toilet; After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; After touching objects with bare hands which have been handled by other individuals.
• Ensure that children with skin reactions and contraindications to hand sanitizer use soap and water.
• Provide at least one touch-less water fountain in each division to reduce risk of viral spread.
• Encourage staff and students to cough and sneeze into their elbows, or to cover with a tissue.
• Limit sharing of personal items and supplies such as writing utensils.
• Limit use of classroom materials to small groups and disinfect between uses or provide adequate supplies to assign for individual student use.

LOWER SCHOOL STUDENTS

The CFA staff member conducting screenings should maintain a three-foot distance while asking questions of the person dropping off the child before the child may enter the school.

Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 or who may have been exposed to COVID-19 should not be at school.

Symptom Screening Questionnaire can be found here.

MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OR ANYONE ENTERING A CFA BUILDING

The CFA staff member conducting screenings should maintain a three-foot distance while asking questions. They will ask each person entering the building the following questions prior to entering the school.

Anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 or who may have been exposed to COVID-19 should not be at school.

Symptom Screening Questionnaire can be found here.

The COVID-19 pandemic may be stressful for students and families. The concern for the health of an ill family member or loved one, the cancelation of some activities and events, the fear of contracting the virus, and concern for our global health can lead to depression and anxiety. CFA values the mental health of our students, as academic success is dependent on social-emotional wellbeing.

CFA has three school counselors available for students and families. As it relates to COVID-19, our counselors will provide the following:

• Individual/group counseling for students
• Consultation for parents
• Advocacy with teachers and administration
• Guidance curriculum lessons per grade
• Referral for testing and counseling  

In establishing our practices, CFA counselors have referred to directives from the following agencies and institutions:

Center for Disease Control: CDC: Coping with Stress during the COVID-19 pandemic
American Psychological Association: APA: What to expect during COVID-19
Anxiety and Depression Association of America: ADAA: Managing COVID-19 Anxiety

School Counselor Contact information:

Tobi Ragon: 8th-12th grade (Full Time)
tragon@capefearacademy.org
910-218-7174

Elizabeth Gibbs: 4th-7th grade (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
egibbs@capefearacademy.org
910-791-0287

Carrie Peed: PK-3rd grade (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
carrie.peed@capefearacademy.org
910-791-0287