These past two years have been difficult for many of our students, families, faculty and school staff. We can’t thank you enough for your patience and resilience as we get through this pandemic together.
This web page offers updated information and resources for parents, students and school staff to address common questions and concerns, as well as inform about new guidelines.
Kudos to our students, parents and teachers for adapting to these circumstances with such courage and grace. This pandemic has had challenges, and we will continue to meet them together. Together we can keep each other safe while preparing our next generation to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
School Reopening Criteria and Clackamas County COVID-19 Data
As a part of its planned guidance and metrics review process with the Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Department of Education released the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework for the 2021-22 School Year effective on June 30, 2021.
The Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework replaced the Ready Schools, Safe Learners: Guidance for School Year 2020-21 version 7.5.2 issued on May 28, 2021. Throughout the year, the framework will be updated with additional links and resources to support schools during the school year.
The vast majority of health and safety measures in this framework are advisory and offered to schools to support successful full-time, in-person instruction. Schools may choose whether to consider or implement advised safety measures. Clackamas County Public Health’s recommendations align with those outlined in the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework for the 2021-22 school year.
New variants of COVID-19 have demonstrated increased transmissibility, even among children and young adults. Even if you are vaccinated, it is important to continue to wear masks, remain physically distant, and practice proper hand hygiene. Our best defense against COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. Pfizer vaccines have now been approved for kids aged 5 and older. Even if you don’t feel you are at risk for COVID-19, getting the vaccine will help protect your family, friends and community.
Pfizer/Comirnaty Pediatric Vaccine for kids ages 5 to 11 is available to schedule vaccine appointments at regular Clackamas County Public Health clinics. Make an appointment online. If you don’t see “Pfizer Pediatric Vaccine” as an option on the scheduler then the appointments are all full. Please continue to check back for available appointments as we try to meet the initial demand.
Oregon public health rules require individual schools to continue to work with local public health officials in responding to cases or outbreaks and, if necessary, switch back to distance learning. Parents and families need to be prepared to return to distance learning, as well.
The best way to protect your kids aged 5 and over is to get them vaccinated. The best tools to protect kids under 5 years of age are vaccines (for their family members and the general public), physical distancing, masks and good hygiene.
County public health officials continue to work with the 170 schools in Clackamas County to ensure safe practices and protocols to allow for safe on-site learning. These safe practices and protocols include:
- Physical distancing
- Masks
- Cohorting as much as possible/assigned seating
- Hand hygiene
- Cleaning and disinfecting
- Airflow and ventilation
- Effective screening and response to cases, with quick access to testing and implementation of isolation and quarantine
Each school is required to develop and periodically submit an operational plan to the Oregon Department of Education, outlining their plans for adhering to the practices listed above and safely returning students to the classroom for the 2021-22 school year.
School-Related Quarantine
Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick, and limit further transmission. The following individuals in K-12 schools will need to quarantine following an exposure:
- They are unvaccinated; OR
- They have not completed the primary series of any COVID-19 vaccine, meaning they only received one dose of Pfizer or Moderna or it has been less than 14 days since administration of their second dose (initial dose for those who received Johnson & Johnson); OR
- They are ≥18 years old and completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna over 5 months ago, but are not boosted1; OR
- They completed the primary series of Johnson & Johnson over 2 months ago and are not boosted.
Quarantine starts the day after their last exposure to a case, with day 0 being the date of last exposure. Close contacts should quarantine away from others for at least 5 days after their last contact with a person who has COVID-19, and monitor themselves for symptoms for 10 days after their last exposure. If symptoms develop, they should seek testing immediately and stay home until they receive their test result.
If the close contact does not develop symptoms, they should seek testing at least 5 days after their last exposure. A negative result means they can return to school, but must continue to wear a well-fitting mask when around others for an additional 5 days. Test availability is currently very limited and testing is not required. If they are unable to test 5 days after exposure they can return to school after 5 days, so long as they continue to mask around others for an additional 5 days. Note if they cannot consistently and diligently wear a well-fitting mask during this 5-day period, they should continue to quarantine at home for a full 10 days. Similarly, if masking is not feasible during certain extracurricular activities (such as sports), then the individual should not participate in that activity during this period.
Clackamas County Public Health will also support a Test to Stay modified quarantine for unvaccinated and asymptomatic close contacts if their exposure occurred in a K-12 setting. Test to Stay modified quarantine can only be used in the following indoor K-12 exposure scenarios:
- Unmasked exposures for students and staff actively eating or drinking.
- Unmasked curricular/learning exposures for students and staff (i.e., band class, welding, curricular swimming or wrestling).
Only schools with on-site COVID-19 testing are eligible to offer this modified quarantine. Students and staff in a Test to Stay modified quarantine may attend extracurricular activities (including school-sanctioned sports, before and after-school care, clubs, meetings, tutoring, counseling, etc.), but must mask at all times during these activities for 10 days after exposure. Students and staff participating in a modified quarantine must observe quarantine outside of school activities. Individuals may only participate in Test to Stay if they test negative twice over the course of 5 days, and remain symptom free.
Individuals who live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 may have ongoing exposures, if the case cannot truly isolate from the rest of the household. Household close contacts with ongoing exposures should quarantine for a minimum of 5 days, starting the day after the ill individual’s 5-day isolation period ends. This may equate to a 10-day or longer in-home quarantine for household close contacts, followed by an additional 5 days of proper and consistent masking.
The following individuals in K-12 settings will not need to quarantine following an exposure:
- They are ≥18 years old and are eligible for and had received a booster dose1; or
- They are 5-17 years old and completed the primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine; or
- They completed the primary series of Pfizer or Moderna within the last 5 months; or
- They completed the primary series of Johnson & Johnson within the last 2 months; or
- They had laboratory confirmed2 COVID-19 within the last 90 days.
Individuals who meet the criteria above will not need to quarantine, but should consistently mask when around others for 10 days after exposure.
All close contacts, regardless of the need to quarantine or not, should monitor themselves for symptoms for 10 days after exposure and seek testing 5 days after exposure. If symptoms develop, stay home and seek testing immediately.
For more information, visit the Quarantine and Isolation website.
1Clackamas County Public Health will implement a grace period for K-12 staff and volunteers to receive their booster dose before they need to quarantine. This grace period will be through 3/18/2022. This means vaccinated, but not yet boosted, K-12 volunteers and staff will not need to quarantine following an exposure until 3/18/2022. This only applies to staff and volunteers in K-12 settings.
2Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 means the individual received a positive result from a laboratory-based RT-PCR, other NAAT, or antigen test. Unless performed by prescription, at-home tests cannot be used to confirm diagnosis but may make an individual a presumptive case. Individuals with a positive at-home test should follow up with a medical provider to ensure they receive appropriate medical care.
Outbreak Information
If a case of COVID-19 is identified in a school, students and staff need to quarantine if they have had an exposure, or close contact, with someone with confirmed or possible COVID-19. Someone is considered “exposed” if they have been within 6 feet of a COVID-19 case for at least 15 minutes.* Close contact can also include caring for, living with, visiting or sitting within 6 feet of the confirmed or possible COVID-19 case.
Exceptions:
Masked indoor close contact, regardless of distance, that occurs in the K-12 setting does not constitute exposure and does not require quarantine.
In the K–12 outdoor setting (e.g., recess, outdoor classrooms), the close contact definition is unlikely to be met, because students are unlikely to have been within 6 feet of a confirmed case for 15 or more minutes. Therefore, these exposures are low risk and unlikely to warrant quarantine. Clackamas County Public Health will only advise quarantine for students who had definite close contact to a case in the outdoor setting. This exception does not apply to exposures that occur during unmasked outdoor school sports given the potential for prolonged exposures within close contact.
*The 15 minutes do not need to be continuous; they can accumulate throughout the day. For example, 5 minutes in the morning in close contact with a COVID-19 case and then 10 minutes during lunch in close contact with a COVID-19 case would qualify as close contact.
Masking in Schools
On Nov. 23, 2021, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) amended OAR 333-019-1015 to no longer require face coverings in outdoor K-12 school settings. Unvaccinated individuals, those who are immunocompromised, individuals at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, or individuals who live with someone in one of these categories would still have increased protection from wearing a mask in these outdoor school settings and are recommended to do so. A school may continue to require students and staff to wear a mask during outdoor activities.
OAR 333-019-1015 still requires face coverings in indoor K-12 settings, regardless of vaccination status. This rule applies to public, private, parochial, charter, youth corrections education programs, and juvenile detention education programs or alternative educational programs offering kindergarten through grade 12 or any part thereof. The rule requires all individuals five years of age and older to wear a face covering while indoors in a K-12 school setting, regardless of vaccination status, when:
- At school during regular school hours;
- Engaged in educational activities, such as field trips or off-campus classes, during regular school hours; and/or
- At school engaged in educational activities outside of regular school hours.
Despite masks being required for all individuals as described above, it is important to note masks are NOT a substitute for physical distancing. Layering additional health and safety measures against COVID-19 in addition to masking (such as maintaining at least 3-6 feet of physical distance) is still highly recommended to protect students and staff.
A face covering will not have to be worn when an individual is:
- Actively eating or drinking;
- Sleeping;
- Playing a musical instrument that requires using the mouth;
- Engaged in a sport during physical education class such as swimming, other water sports, or one where wearing a face covering could be a strangulation hazard such as gymnastics or wrestling;
- Is in a private, individual workspace;
- Is under five years of age (unless the individual is riding public transportation, like a school bus, in which case individuals two years of age and older are required to wear a face covering); and/or
- Is practicing or playing a competitive sport at any level. However, Clackamas County Public Health recommends wearing face coverings when feasible
Child care and youth programs will continue to follow existing OHA mask guidance.
Note that under the statewide masking requirements for indoor spaces (OAR 333-019-1025), masks or face coverings must be worn during indoor events that occur after regular school hours like school board meetings, parent teacher conferences, staff meetings, etc. This applies to all individuals 5 years and older, regardless of vaccination status.
COVID-19 and Your Mental Health
Even if you are struggling just a little bit, Clackamas Safe+Strong can help. Email safestrong@clackamas.us or call 503-655-8585. You can schedule free, confidential services at 503-722-6200 from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For Youth
YouthLine
YouthLine is a free, confidential teen-to-teen crisis and help line. No problem is too big or too small for the YouthLine. Teens are available to help daily from 4-10pm PST. Adults are available by phone at all other times. YouthLine listens, supports, and maintains your confidentiality.
Call 1-877-968-8491 Text ‘teen2teen’ to 839863
Chat online
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is an awesome resource and a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth to reach out for 24/7 support.
Call 1-866-488-7386 or text ‘START’ to 678-678
For Adults Who Support Young People
Oregon Family Support Network
Oregon Family Support Network has family support specialists who can work with you and support you from a position of lived experience raising children with behavioral, emotional or mental health challenges.
Reach Out Oregon
Reach Out Oregon offers many different ways (phone, text, a discussion forum, online Zoom discussion groups) to connect with a community of parents with lived experience of raising children with behavioral, emotional or mental health challenges.
Safe and Strong
Safe and Strong has resources to get through COVID-19 safely so you, your family and our communities stay strong.
Reopening Plans
To learn more about your school district’s plan for reopening for the 2021-22 school year, please see your school district’s website.
Additional Resources
Helpful Links
- Ensuring Equity and Access Guidance
- Communicable Disease Guidance for Schools
- Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) Guidance (as of Jan. 19, 2021)
- Guidance for Limited In-Person Instruction During CDL
- Oregon Department of Education (ODE) news release
- Research Informing Changes in K-12 COVID-19 Guidance
Additional Tools and Resources
- Addressing Grades and Credit Options
- Attendance Best Practices
- Contact Tracing Guidance
- COVID-19 Testing in Oregon's K-12 Schools
- Face Coverings and FAPE Supplemental Guidance
- Mask guidance
- OHA Guidance for On-Site Testing
- Update to Returning to In-Person Instruction family resource (translations to be posted as soon as available)
- Youth Program Guidance
Contacts
Clackamas County-specific questions:
- School inquiries COVIDschoolliaison@clackamas.us
General Ready School, Safe Learners initiative questions:
- Oregon Health Authority COVID19.Reopening@dhsoha.state.or.us
- Oregon Department of Education ODECOVID19@ode.state.or.us
