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Strategies for Protecting K-12 School Staff from COVID-19
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Strategies for Protecting K-12 School Staff from COVID-19

CDC.Gov/Corona Virus PPE SCHOOLS

The information on this page provides an expanded focus on the health and safety of K-12 school staff. The strategies also provide workplace safety and health information for administrators related to protecting teachers, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, janitorial/maintenance staff, office staff, school nutrition staff, school nurses/health professionals, school bus drivers and bus aides, coaching staff and athletic trainers, and music, choir, and performing arts teachers. This list is not exhaustive and addresses only some of the many jobs in schools. These strategies are meant to supplement—not replace—Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations, and any federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations with which schools must comply.

These strategies apply whether staff and students have returned to in-person learning, staff is assigned to work in school buildings to support virtual learning, or the school implements hybrid models (combined in-person and virtual instruction). Certain aspects of these strategies apply to non-school buildings operated by K-12 school systems (e.g., office workers in district administration buildings, transportation hubs, and maintenance shops).

Specifically, this page provides information about:

Who is this information for?

These strategies are intended for K-12 school administrators preparing for school programs for staff and students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrators oversee the daily operations of K-12 schools. These strategies are also intended for other groups, including school district superintendents, school principals, and assistant principals, who share responsibilities for safely operating school buildings. Finally, this information may also be useful to boards of education, state and local policy makers, unions/labor groups, school employees, including teachers, paraprofessionals, other support staff, and parents, families, and students.

All K-12 school workplaces developing plans to continue operations while COVID-19 outbreaks occur among teachers, staff, and students, or in the surrounding community, should:

  1. Work directly with appropriate state, tribal, local, and territorial public health officials and occupational safety and health professionals;
  2. Incorporate relevant aspects of CDC guidance, including, but not limited to, CDC’s Schools and Childcare Programs​: Plan, Prepare, and Respond and Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers;
  3. Incorporate guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
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  5.  and other federal and state regulatory agencies, as needed; and
  6. Communicate regularly with families, staff, and other partners about important COVID-19 information.

Guiding Principles to Keep in Mind

The risk for COVID-19 spread rises with increased close contact with others. The more people who teachers and staff interact with, and the longer those interactions last, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. While not exhaustive, Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations provides a stratification that attempts to characterize the risks of spread among students, teachers, and staff across this continuum.

Exposure Risk among K-12 Staff

The risk of occupational spread of COVID-19 depends on several factors. Some of these factors are described in the joint publication by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services titled Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19

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. Distinctive factors that affect risk for exposure to COVID-19 for teachers and staff in school settings include:

More information on what is known about the signs and symptoms, burden, and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children can be found in Preparing K-12 School Administrators for a Safe Return to School in Fall 2020.

Persons at Higher Risk for Illness

Staff at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 include older adults and people of any age with certain underlying medical conditions. Policies and procedures addressing issues related to teachers and other staff at higher risk of serious illness should be made in consultation with occupational medicine and human resource professionals, keeping in mind Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) concerns.

Symptoms

The profile of symptoms associated with COVID-19 remains under study and will be updated as warranted by research findings. Check the CDC website for the latest information.

Create a COVID-19 Hazard Assessment Plan

Every school should have a plan in place to protect staff, children, and their families from the spread of COVID-19, and a response plan in place for if/when a student, teacher, or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. For information on developing and implementing an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), please refer to the Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations website.

An important part of a school’s EOP is to develop a plan for conducting initial and periodic hazard assessments

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 of the school to identify COVID-19 risks, prevention strategies (e.g., engineering and administrative controls and personal protective equipment (PPE)), and to identify new or recurring hazards.

To create a hazard assessment plan:

See the OSHA COVID-19

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 webpage for more information on how to protect workers from potential COVID-19 exposures. Guidance may also be available from state, local, or professional technical organizations. For example, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published Reopening Guide for Schools and Universities

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 which includes useful plans and checklists to prepare buildings for occupancy and check on equipment and systems, as well as maintenance plans and checks during the academic year.

Strategies for Controlling COVID-19 Exposures

Infection prevention recommendations for staff and students are based on an approach known as the hierarchy of controls. This approach groups actions by their effectiveness in reducing or removing hazards. In most cases, the preferred approach is for management to:

  1. Reduce the risk of COVID-19 by having teachers, staff, and students stay home when sick or if they have been in close contact with a person with COVID-19. Monitor COVID-19 transmission rates in the immediate community and in the communities in which students, teachers, and staff live. Work collaboratively with local health officials to determine if temporary school closure is necessary.
  2. Install engineering controls, including modifying work areas using physical barriers, incorporating required accessibility requirements, and improving ventilation, where feasible.
  3. Establish administrative controls and safe work practices for all staff to follow, which include appropriate cleaning and disinfection practices and appropriate mask policies.
  4. Provide PPE in accordance with the school administrator’s worksite hazard assessment to protect staff from hazards not controlled by engineering and administrative controls alone (e.g., school health staff, janitorial and maintenance staff).

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Reducing the risks of COVID-19 in K-12 school worksites

K-12 school administration, particularly in areas where community spread of COVID-19 is occurring, should develop and implement a comprehensive strategy aimed at preventing the introduction of COVID-19 into school facilities. Please refer to the CDC Preparing K-12 School Administrators for a Safe Return to School page for more information.

Strategies for reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools include educating and training staff on at-home symptom screening (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat) and cooperating with federal and local health officials, including to facilitate contact tracing, if exposures or infections warrant.

Screening K-12 school staff for COVID-19

Given the wide range of symptoms and the fact that some people with COVID-19 are presymptomatic or asymptomatic, there are limitations to symptom screening for the identification of COVID-19. CDC does not currently recommend that schools conduct universal in-person symptom screenings. Refer to Screening K-12 Students for Symptoms of COVID-19: Limitations and Considerations for more information on screening students. Information about screening employees can be found on the General Business Frequently Asked Questions page. One option is to encourage staff to self-screen prior to coming onsite.

Testing of K-12 school staff

CDC does not recommend universal testing of all students and staff. CDC’s Interim Considerations for K-12 School Administrators for SARS-CoV-2 Testing advises that schools should determine, in collaboration with local health officials, whether to implement any testing strategy and, if so, how to best do so. School administrators are encouraged to review SARS-CoV-2 Testing Strategy: Considerations for Non-Healthcare Workplaces when considering testing of all school employees.

Managing sick staff

When school staff or students report or have symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, sore throat) upon arrival at work or become sick during the day, school administrators should:

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Engineering controls

Increasing ventilation

Consider steps to increase the delivery of clean air and dilute potential contaminants. Not all steps are applicable for all scenarios. Consult with experienced HVAC professionals when considering changes to HVAC systems and equipment. Some of these recommendations are based on ASHRAE Guidance for Building Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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. Review additional ASHRAE guidelines for schools and universities

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 for further information on ventilation recommendations for different types of buildings and building readiness for occupancy.

Improvement steps may include some, or all, of the following activities:

Other engineering controls

For information on other engineering controls, such as water systems, modified layouts, and physical barriers and guides, please refer to Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC’s Considerations and CDC’s Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers.

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Administrative controls

Important administrative controls include staggering and alternating schedules, reducing maximum occupancy in all areas of the building, closing indoor communal use spaces, promoting hand hygiene, implementing cleaning and disinfection protocols, and posting signs and messages to promote everyday protective measures.

In addition, K-12 school administrators may consider strategies to:

Consider strategies for protecting staff at higher risk for severe illness

Educate and train K-12 staff about how they can reduce the spread of COVID-19

Training should be provided to all staff, including substitute teachers and other temporary personnel. Communication and training for staff should be easy to understand and be provided in languages other than English, as needed. Training should also be accompanied by necessary instructional materials in accessible formats, as required, and include information about:

Cleaning and disinfection in K-12 school worksites

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Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthy workplace

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. Conduct a thorough hazard assessment

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 of the school worksite to identify potential workplace hazards related to COVID-19. When engineering and administrative controls cannot be implemented or are not fully protective, employers are required by OSHA standards (29 CFR part 1910, Subpart I

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) to:

When respirators are not required to protect workers, employers may consider allowing voluntary use of filtering facepiece respirators (such as N95s) if staff wish to provide and use such equipment on their own. Owners and operators who allow voluntary use of respirators should ensure they comply with the voluntary use provisions of the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard (29 CFR 1910.134).

In light of potential PPE shortages, administrators should consider modifying staff and student interaction and use the suggested engineering and administrative controls, mentioned above, as primary prevention and control measures that reduce the need for PPE. See the Special Considerations section for information on limited circumstances in which PPE for K-12 staff may be necessary.

Supporting Teacher and Staff Mental Health and Well-Being

To protect and support the mental health of K-12 teachers and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, administrators should consider these options:

For additional information, please see the Resources section.

Special Considerations

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Teachers, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, and specialists

The overall guidance for prevention and control in this document will suffice in most standard classroom or school environments. Some teachers and staff may encounter work situations that require modifying or adapting policies or procedures due to the nature of the work required, including:

When social distancing cannot be maintained

K-12 staff will not always be able to maintain 6 feet of distance between themselves and students. This issue may be of particular concern to paraprofessionals, therapists, and other staff who have close and consistent contact with students with disabilities. These teachers and staff are considered to be in the same general risk category as direct service providers who provide similar services outside of the school setting. In these cases, additional steps must be taken to ensure the safety of the staff and the students by reducing the likelihood of COVID-19 spread, through adopting additional control measures, such as:

When a mask cannot be worn by staff (or some students)

CDC recognizes that wearing masks may not be possible in every situation or for some people. In some situations, wearing a mask may exacerbate a physical or mental health condition or introduce significant safety concerns. Wearing masks may be difficult for people with sensory, cognitive, or behavioral issues. Masks prevent reading lips and observing facial expressions. Individuals requesting mask exemptions may be asked by the employer to provide documentation

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 regarding why the accommodation is necessary. This health information should be kept confidential, in accordance with applicable federal and state privacy laws and regulations. Adaptations and alternatives should be considered, whenever possible, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 when wearing a mask is not feasible.

When K-12 administrators and staff need to visit multiple locations or worksites

In addition to the general considerations to be followed above, administrators and staff that move from location to location throughout the day should take special care to not spread COVID-19 between sites during their movements. Ways to prevent spread in these cases include:

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Janitors and maintenance staff

Implement enhanced cleaning and disinfecting practices

Ventilation considerations during cleaning and disinfecting

Provide and encourage use of necessary personal protective equipment (PPE)

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

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Office staff

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

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School nutrition staff

There is no evidence to indicate spread of COVID-19 through food. To maintain environments that are as safe as possible for school nutrition professionals, school administrators who oversee cafeterias and kitchens should review the following considerations to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These steps supplement the general considerations for protecting all school staff, presented above, and CDC’s Considerations for Schools.

Provide support for school nutrition professionals to protect themselves and others.

Consider the following actions:

Follow steps for safe meal preparation

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

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School nurses/health professionals

Similar to other school employees, school nurses/healthcare professionals should be familiar with the general recommendations for all school employees. They should also be familiar with Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic. Some of the topics that are most relevant to the school clinic setting include:

More details about all of the topics in the list above can be found in Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic.

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

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School bus drivers and bus aides

School bus drivers and bus aides, as well as other school staff, have the potential to come into contact with the virus that causes COVID-19 by:

School systems can implement a number of strategies to reduce risk of transmission on buses:

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this document.

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Coaching staff and athletic trainers

Administrators should make decisions about restarting extracurricular athletic activities, in collaboration with local health officials, based on a number of factors. These factors include the level of community transmission, whether cases are identified among students, teachers, or staff, and what other indicators local public health officials are using to follow COVID-19. In addition, administrators should consider the transmission risk of the particular sport (e.g., cross country and tennis generally pose a lower risk than wrestling, outdoor sports generally pose a lower risk than indoor sports, etc.) and the ability to mitigate transmission risk, and whether student, teacher, and staff cohorts are being used in the school.

Coaching staff and athletic trainers might come into contact with the virus that causes COVID-19 by:

School systems can implement a number of strategies to reduce COVID-19 risk for coaching staff and athletic trainers:

For additional information, please see the Resources section at the end of this page.

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Music, choir, and performing arts teachers

Administrators should make decisions about restarting extracurricular performing arts activities, in collaboration with local health officials, based on a number of factors. These factors include the level of community transmission, whether cases are identified among students, teachers, or staff, what other indicators local public health officials are using to follow COVID-19, and whether student, teacher, and staff cohorts are being implemented within the school.

Singing or playing wind and brass instruments can generate respiratory droplets and aerosols that may contain the COVID-19 virus if a person is infected.

Some general considerations for music and performing arts include:

Music instruction

Theater and dance

Other Information

Workers’ rights

Employees have the right to safe and healthy workplaces. If an employee believes working conditions are unsafe or unhealthful, the employee may file a safety and health complaint with OSHA at any time. If possible, employees should tell their employer about any concerns. For more information on how to file a safety and health complaint, visit OSHA’s File a Complaint

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 website.

Employees also have the right to speak up about hazards without fear of retaliation. Section 11(c)

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 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

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, 29 USC 660(c), prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for raising concerns about safety and health conditions. Acts of retaliation can include terminations, demotions, denials of overtime or promotion, or reductions in pay or hours. Any worker who believes that their employer is retaliating against them for reporting unsafe working conditions should contact OSHA immediately. OSHA encourages workers who suffer such retaliation to submit a complaint to OSHA

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 as soon as possible in order to file their complaint within the legal time limits. Complaints under section 11(c) must be filed within 30 days after the alleged unfavorable employment action occurs (that is, when the employee is notified of the retaliatory action).

Note that if the condition clearly presents a risk of death or serious physical harm, there is not sufficient time for OSHA to inspect, and, where possible, the employee has brought the condition to the attention of their employer, they may have a legal right to refuse to work in a situation in which they would be exposed to the hazard. Visit OSHA’s Workers’ Right to Refuse Dangerous Work

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 website to learn more.

OSHA recommends employers review its publication Recommended Practices for Anti-Retaliation Programs

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Resources

COVID-19 workplace resources

Mental health resources

Janitor and maintenance staff resources

Office staff resources

School nutrition professionals resources

School nurses/health professional resources

School bus driver and bus aide resources

Coaching staff and athletic trainer resources

Music, choir, and performing arts teacher resources

Last Updated Aug. 20, 2020

Content source: National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Division of Viral Diseases

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