District COVID-19 Information

COVID-19 Dashboard and Activity Level

Kaukauna Area School District has developed this dashboard as a way to keep our KASD community informed about the conditions surrounding COVID-19 within our schools. This information will be updated weekly.

To view this information on your full screen on your desktop computer,
please click the three dots on the top right, then the screen icon.

Note: Individuals in quarantine may have tested positive for COVID-19, may have been identified as a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, or may be exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 but are not being tested. Virtual students, as well as those who have not attended school buildings while contagious, are also included in this data.

Students and staff that are in quarantine and not ill are able to continue teaching and learning while at home.

Elementary classrooms that have moved to a virtual learning environment are included in the quarantine totals, and are learning together virtually. Students in grades 5-12 are expected to log into their classrooms virtually on all days, as they previously had been, on their cohort's virtual days.

Reporting and Contact Tracing

How do I report a potential COVID-19 case?
Please use your school's normal attendance line procedures to report a student absence. When doing so, please include any reason to suspect potential connection to COVID-19, such as a positive test or awaiting test results for someone else in the home, student has had close contact with someone else who tested positive for COVID-19, or student has multiple symptoms related to COVID-19 that are not caused by a known other ailment (such as allergies).

Contact Tracing
The Contact Tracing Team has been developed to centralize information related to known and potential COVID-19 cases and close contacts in our schools. This will allow for consistent communication and quick response to potential positive cases in the school setting. In addition, the CT Team will provide guidance to families as they navigate a potential COVID-19 situation in their household.

Using attendance information and communications from families to school staff, the CT Team will meet daily to monitor potential and known COVID-19 cases in
our schools. CT Team will follow up with students and families to determine any close contacts (within six feet for 15 or more minutes and/or physical contact) amongst students and staff when a positive case is identified. The CT Team will then contact anyone in KASD who is identified as a close contact. The CT Team will also communicate with families to ensure students do not return to school until proper isolation guidelines are met.

What is a Close Contact?
Kaukauna Area School District is using the definition of close contact provided by Outagamie County Public Health. In summary, you are a close contact in ANY of th efollowing situations (even if the infected person did not have symptoms): 

• Had direct physical contact with the person
• Were within 6 feet of th eperson for a total of more than 15 minutes (cumulative, not consecutive) in a single day
• Had contact with the person's respiratory secretions
• Live with the person or stayed overnight for at least one night in a household with the person

Understanding the definition of close contact, as well as what it means for those who are considered close contacts is important in limiting the spread of the virus. Please take a look at the document from OCPH here. 

What are the Isolation/Quarantine Guidelines?
These vary on a case-by-case basis. Please work with the team at your child's school to help you figure out what is appropriate for your student's situation. Generally, however, should a student have a positive test, the student would be required to isolate for 10 days from symptom onset. In order to return to school after the 10-day isolation period, the student would also have to be symptom free for 24 hours without the use of medication. Should the student have no symptoms but still have a positive test, insolation for 10 days from the test day would be necessary. Additional scenarios are listed in the Contact Tracing Presentation for Families. We urge you, however, to work with your school and your county health department to confirm requirements for your situation. 

Benchmarking and Transitioning Between Models

The 2020-2021 school year began with heartfelt care and concern for the safety of students and staff, which has served as our guide, moving through different phases and instructional models that best meet the needs of students. KASD staff members are being very intentional with learning, and at a District level, we continue to revise operational protocols and instructional methods in an effort to deliver instruction in an efficient and effective manner. We must keep in mind, however, that the safety and health conditions within the instructional model can change rapidly. Through the efforts of KASD's Contact Tracing Team we are albe to quickly act in situations requiring transition to mitigate the spread of the virus through our schools. 

The following benchmarking information has been developed to guide and support the decision-making process when addressing movement between instructional models. We monitor several specific pieces of information on a daily basis, such as student and staff absenteeism, reliable and current County data,the potential spread of the virus in our schools, and ongoing mitigation efforts. We also monitor our staffing pool to determine whether it is adequate to facilitate the school day. Our Contact Tracing Team is in frequent contact with County Health Officials throughout the weeks, and we strongly consider their guidance in relation to decisions about individual classrooms at the elementary level. 

Moving Between Different Learning Environments during an Outbreak
(Adapted from the Guidelines for the Prevention, Investigation, and Control of COVID-19 Outbreaks in K-12 Schools in Wisconsin published by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services)

Working together, the Kaukauna Area School District and local County Public Health Departments will determine the least disruptive level of temporary closure or dismissal needed, or transition to virtual learning, to control an outbreak transmission. The scope of the temporary closure/dismissal will be limited to the smallest unit affected (for example, a cohort, a classroom). Instruction will continue through all virtual learning methods, and can resume in-person instruction as soon as safely feasible. KASD will use the framework described in this document for guidance in decision making to move between various learning models. This is not an exhaustive list, and does not include all factors needing consideration in any given situation.

Classrooms and Cohorts: District administrators in consultation with the Health Department will consider temporarily halting in-person instruction in an individual classroom or student cohort when:

• Effective contact tracing cannot be completed due to the age of the student(s) involved
• Other outbreak mitigation measures were implemented, and were not effective at halting transmission between classmates.
• Logistics of in-person instruction have been seriously impacted due to staff and/or student absences.
• Classroom or school wide cleaning and disinfection needs to be completed.
• A greater number of students in the classroom are absent due to COVID related cases than present.

Individual Schools: District administrators in consultation with the Health Department the District will consider temporarily halting in-person instruction in an individual school when:

• Effective contact tracing cannot be completed due to the age or number of the student(s) involved
• The number of absences among teachers or school staff is impeding student instruction, ability to provide student lunch, or other vital school functions
• A greater number of classrooms or student cohorts are absent than present
• School wide cleaning and disinfection needs to be conducted
• Other outbreak mitigation measures were implemented, and were ineffectual at halting transmission between classmates.

School District: District administrators in consultation with the Health Department will consider temporarily halting in-person instruction across the school district when:

• The local, county, state or the federal government recommend or order closure
• The number of absences among school and district staff is impeding vital district functions
• Contact tracing is being conducted to identify close contacts and additional cases from multiple schools (for example, in response to a large outbreak linked to a school event)
• Other outbreak mitigation measures were implemented, and were ineffectual at halting transmission at schools in the district.

Returning to In-Person Instruction - Model 1: (Adapted Information) District administrators in consultation with the Health Department will consider returning to an in-person instructional model when: (not an all-inclusive list)

• The local and or regional burden rate is defined as low to moderate over a period of time (ranging from 7-14 days) and data trends illustrate that the virus is being mitigated.
• Local and or regional Health officials support the return to Model 1.
• District mitigation measures are effectively working.

Notes

• Meeting a benchmark does not initiate an immediate transition between models.
• Sustainability within a model is also a factor, a 7-14 day look back period will guide a decision.
• The COVID-19 Burden Rate (two-week period) will be monitored on a weekly basis within our school aged group