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COVID-19 Notifications

September 11, 2020 - Parents and guardians may have recently received notification from schools regarding positive COVID-19 results. We want to assure our families we are working with Pubic Health – Dayton and Montgomery County to follow appropriate protocols as cases are reported as well as follow the orders from Governor DeWine. 

Beginning September 8, Governor DeWine has ordered the following:

  • Parents or guardians and school staff should notify their school within 24 hours of receiving a positive coronavirus test or a clinical diagnosis. 

  • Within 24 hours of the notification, that school will notify parents or guardians about that case in writing. The notification should provide as much information as possible without releasing protected health information. (The notification will be sent to parents every time a new case or cases are reported.) 

  • Additionally, the school will be required to notify their local health department within 24 hours.

Recently an individual associated with the football team tested positive. The district immediately took action by suspending football games and practices for a 14-day period to allow the team, coaches and anyone associated with the team to quarantine. Everyone was encouraged to do COVID-19 testing which resulted in positive results of four additional individuals associated with the team. Parents/guardians of High School students received notification of the four positive cases we were aware of following the Governor’s September 8 order.

Notifications will continue to be sent to families directly from the building where their child attends whenever a positive case(s) has been identified in that building. Governor DeWine has advised that parents/guardians should notify their child’s school within 24 hours of receiving a positive COVID-19 test or a clinical diagnosis. Notification will assist the school with attendance tracking as well. The West Carrollton staff will also be self-reporting any positive test result. When the principal is aware of any positive result, the principal will send notification to parents/guardians and notify the health department within 24 hours. Personal information regarding the individual who tested positive will not be released.

Note that individuals testing positive may not have been on any school campus. Being online for the first nine weeks of schools means that students are learning remotely; however, student absences are still being reported. If a student is absent due to COVID-19, we would still notify the families of other students in that building. The same is true if a staff member is absent due to a positive COVID-19 test result.

Parents/guardians may also be contacted directly from the school nurse and/or the Health Department. Our school nurses are working closely with the Health Department to assist with contact tracing whenever we are advised of a positive or potentially positive case of COVID-19.

Beginning September 15, local health departments from across the state will be reporting the number of newly reported and cumulative cases from schools to the Ohio Department of Health. We anticipate numbers across the state and Montgomery County could increase as additional testing and contact tracing occurs; however, it is important to remember that most schools in Montgomery County are currently providing online and/or hybrid learning and that any increase in positive results does not mean the infection occurred in school or during a school activity.

The West Carrollton School District will remain diligent as we continue to monitor what is happening with COVID-19, follow the guidelines we receive from the state, work with the local health department and, most importantly, continue to provide updates to our families.