Updated February 3, 2021

Milton Public Schools COVID-19 Positive Case and Close Contact Determination Process

Reference Document: MPS Covid Protocols. Updated regularly by the Director of Nursing and follows the most current CDC guidance.

1. In some instances, the school will be the first to know of a student who has tested positive for COVID-19.  When this happens, Kim Coughlin, Director of Nursing, (kacoughlin@miltonps.org)  is notified by phone and email and will then  notify:

1. MPS Personnel: Superintendent James Jette; Assistant Superintendents Amy Dexter and Dr Karen Spaulding and the Building Principal
2. MPS Physician Dr. Trish Guglietta
3. Milton Board of Health, Caroline Kinsella

2. The Director of Nursing, Kim Coughlin, will begin the process of coordinating contact tracing with the Town of Milton Health Department. The principal will need to be available to produce class rosters, seating charts, team/activity rosters and staff contact tracing form data when asked. Once the list of those who need to quarantine is identified as well as the last date of exposure and return to school date, the Director of Nursing will share that information with the principal.

3. If a staff member will need to quarantine based on the contact tracing, the Director of Nursing  will call and email Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources Dr. Karen Spaulding,  and will cc the building principal.

4. Director of Nursing, Kim Coughlin will update the Quarantined Students spreadsheet with student names and other requested information. Some items will be completed as communications are made.

4. If students are bus riders, check here for further instructions.
5. If students are in sports or activities, check here for further instructions.
6. If students are ESL and parents request contact in their home language, check here for further instructions.

5. Once the names of students and dates of quarantine are on the spreadsheet, Caroline KInsella from the Milton Board of Health will contact anyone considered a close contact of the positive student.  Initial contact may be made by the school nurse, Board of Health or Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) but follow-up and clearance letters will be issued by the Board of Health or CTC.

6. The Principal and building Administrative Assistant will use the following school based communications once the Board of Health has contacted affected individuals.

1. Email to Staff in the school who were not affected.
2. Email to families of students in the school who were not affected

7. The building principal will communicate with the head custodian to enact all cleaning protocols.

8. The Director of Nursing will be available to answer any questions.

Common questions:

• Does my other child need to quarantine? In most cases, no. Please contact your child’s nurse for specific questions.
• Will my child be marked absent? No. Your child will be a virtual learner until the quarantine is completed; you’ll receive an email today or tomorrow with more details.
• Do I need to get my child tested? If your child shows symptoms, yes. Otherwise, just watch for symptoms and keep them home and away from others as much as possible. Please contact your child’s primary care provider for further information.
• What does close contact mean? How do we know if my child was at risk? Use this flow chart to guide the conversation.
• Will my child have the same teacher while they are quarantined at home? Yes.
• The quarantine dates are longer than I thought.  Quarantine begins the day after the last day of exposure. The day of exposure is day 0.

9. The Director of Nursing will be in regular communication with the Board of Health and will update the building principal and Superintendents.

Bus Considerations that may affect who needs to quarantine:

1. Assistant Superintendent Amy Dexter will contact First Student if the positive student was a bus rider.
2. Does the child ride the bus both ways or only in AM or PM?
3. Does the child only ride the bus on certain days of the week?

Athletic/Activity Considerations that may affect who needs to quarantine:

1. Did the team travel to an away event at the time of exposure? Contact Ryan Madden or Activity Advisor.
2. Did the team have a competition (home or away) at the time of exposure? Ryan Madden (or Activity Advisor)  should contact the Athletic Director at the other district(s) so they are aware.
3. Were all levels of the teams/groups (C, JV, Varsity, understudies, cast, crew, managers, jazz, pep, etc) together during the time of exposure?

ELE Considerations for communications:

1. Do you need an interpreter on the phone call? Contact RK Johnson at rjohnson@miltonps.org
2. Do you need documents translated? Contact RK Johnson at rjohnson@miltonps.org