COVID-19: Information for Schools

Make sure staff and families know where to find accurate information.

Point them to our website, Washington State Department of Health and CDC.

Schools must follow K-12 COVID-19 Requirements the 2021-2022 School Year.
Use these Supplemental Considerations to Mitigate COVID-19 Transmission in K-12 Schools.

Our role is to help public and private schools find the safest plan to support learning.

Everyone 12 years or older is eligible to get vaccine.

People 12 years or older can get Pfizer vaccine. People 18 years or older can get Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

View vaccine information.

Template letters to send to parents.

Child tested positive—English, Spanish.
Return to school after COVID-19 symptoms—English, Spanish.
Notification of exposure—English, Spanish.
Notification of no exposure—English, Spanish.
School closure—English, Spanish.

Helpful tools for schools.

Model and encourage healthy habits.

We can all take these steps to safeguard our health.

Wash your hands often with soap and water and for at least 20 seconds.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Cover your coughs and sneezes.
Clean and disinfect objects and surfaces.
Stay at home and away from others if you are sick.
Get your flu shot if you haven’t yet. Flu activity in the county is still elevated.

Help reduce anxiety about COVID-19.

Teach children how they can protect themselves against illness. Evidence suggests COVID-19 is generally mild in children. Those at risk for severe illness are over age 65, have health conditions or are pregnant.

Helpful tools.

Mary Bridge Children’s—Helping Children Cope.
Kids Health—How to talk to talk to your child about COVID-19.
National Public Radio’s comic strip Just for Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus.
Helping Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Traumatic Events—Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Review and update your emergency operations plan.

Update your plan to include information about COVID-19. You don’t need to start from scratch—you can update your plan from 2009’s H1N1 pandemic.

These tools can help shape your plan.

Include this information in the plan:

Contact information for the Health Department.
Options for virtual learning or a plan to make up days if your school closes.
Process for sharing information with students and families.

SCHOOL NURSE RECORDINGS

Help reduce the COVID-19 stigma

Worry and misunderstanding can create fear and mistrust toward people. Disease doesn’t discriminate against race, nationality, or ethnicity and neither should we. Use these resources to help reduce social stigmas:

Department of Health—Stigma reduction.
CDC—Stigma related to COVID-19.
Department of Health—It takes all of us to reduce stigma during disease outbreaks.
King County—Anti stigma resources.

Advisory or Update COVID-19 Health Advisory