COVID-19 Guidelines
- Rates of in-school transmission of COVID-19. Our goal is to ensure all students have access to in-person learning in the safest environment possible. Beyond just positivity rates, monitoring COVID-19 transmission that occurs within classrooms is our best indicator of safety in schools.
- Seasonal patterns of respiratory viruses. We will monitor any concerning trends, including absences related to respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, to quickly respond and mitigate community spread.
- Masking: Indoor masking is strongly recommended at all WISH schools, our co-located Los Angeles Unified schools, and workplaces.
- All schools have surgical masks available for distribution upon request to any student or employee.
- Response Testing: Similar to our summer school programs, WISH, alongside our LAUSD co-located schools, is implementing a “response testing” protocol during the 2022-2023 school year using at-home rapid antigen tests.
- Weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing is no longer required.
- Students and employees do not need to complete a Green Daily Pass to enter campus.
- Testing will only be required for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or those who have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive.
- Symptomatic students and close contacts will be provided with an at-home rapid antigen test by their school.
- The California Department of Public Health recommends that “antigen tests be considered the primary option for detecting COVID-19 in schools, compared to PCR tests.” The antigen test provides rapid results for individuals who have virus levels that are high enough to transmit the virus. The PCR tests have a high level of sensitivity and can pick up low levels of the virus both before and after infection. This may cause students to unnecessarily miss school with low levels of the virus despite being asymptomatic and not being a risk of transmitting to others. Therefore, the antigen tests will help to ensure that every child has access to in-person learning while maintaining a safe school environment.
- Students who become symptomatic or ill while at school are required to wear a mask while being treated at the health office and waiting to be picked up by a parent/guardian. School administrators will provide a rapid antigen test kit for the symptomatic student to take home.
- If parents have questions, please call the front office:
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- Elementary School: Sara Sommer 310-642-9474
- Middle School and High School: Tenisha Redway 310-743-6990
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- Positive Case form: The Positive Case form will be used to notify the school that a faculty member or student has tested positive. This must be filled out by a parent or caregiver as soon as a positive test is received. Faculty and staff must also complete the positive case form if they receive a positive test.
- Vaccination Record form: The Testing and Vaccination Record form will be used to upload COVID-19 rapid antigen test results and vaccination records, monitor positive cases, and to notify close contacts of a person who has tested positive.
- Vaccination: Our employees are already vaccinated. We encourage all eligible students to be vaccinated as well, and all members of the school community to receive any boosters for which they are eligible.
- Negative Test form: Individuals who test positive must isolate at home and may be released from isolation on Day 6, provided symptoms are improving, they are fever-free for the past 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and have a negative test result from a rapid antigen test taken on or after Day 5. Those results should be uploaded to the negative test form.
- If the individual is asymptomatic, Day 0 of isolation is the day the individual was tested. Day 1 is the first full day following the day the individual was tested.
- If the individual is symptomatic, Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when the individual tested positive. Day 1 is the first full day following the day that symptoms started.
- Employees eligible for shortened isolation must continue to wear a highly protective mask at all times in the workplace around others, except when eating or drinking, for 10 days after the date of the positive test.
- Students ending isolation early are strongly recommended to wear a highly protective mask when around others, except when eating or drinking, for 10 days after the date of the positive test.
- Close Contacts: Student close contacts, regardless of vaccination status, and employee close contacts, regardless of booster status, can remain at school or work following exposure to a positive case as long as they monitor for symptoms and remain asymptomatic, wear a highly protective mask at all times indoors (except when eating or drinking) for 10 days following the last date of exposure and test negative with a rapid antigen test between 3-5 days after last date of exposure.
- COVID Dashboards: The COVID dashboards will continue in the 2022-2023 school year. Rapid antigen tests will be the primary method for response testing and will be reflected on the dashboards when entered into the Positive Case form. If PCR tests are uploaded into the Positive Case form, those will also be reflected on the dashboards as well.
- Meals: WISH will maximize the use of outdoor spaces for meals. All students will have access to outdoor eating space. WISH will offer breakfast for students prior to the beginning of the school day outdoors.
Campus and Facilities Access/ Visitor Policies
WISH Community and Academy schools co-locate with several other schools on LAUSD campuses. At all times WISH will support and maintain the required facilities and agreements for all people that occupy the campuses.
Parents and Guardians Visiting a Main Office: Questions, Inquiries, Tours, and Information Lasting Less Than 1 Hour
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill as a parent or guardian if I am going to visit a campus office for general questions, inquiries, access information, and attend a campus tour or Open House?
Parents and families must verbally respond to attestation questions upon arrival on campus. This applies to parents and families visiting a school office for a transaction that may include asking questions, requesting information or content for the child, families attending school tours, and interactions lasting less than an hour.
Parents and Guardians Attending IEP, Intake and Assessments, Classroom Observations, Mandated Training, and Conferences with School Staff
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill if I am attending a 1-1 or small group session with school personnel that is required and student-centered?
Parents and families must verbally respond to the attestation questions upon arrival on campus.
Parents, Families, and Community Participating In After-School Sporting Events or Performances
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill as a spectator in order to attend a sporting event or performance held on school facilities after school hours?
Spectators attending competitions or performances after school hours will be asked to verbally respond to the attestation questions before accessing the venue. This guidance is aligned to the direction provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
School Volunteer Program
What safety protocols and requirements must I fulfill in order to serve as a school volunteer on campus?
School volunteers must upload proof of COVID-19 vaccination into the vaccination form document. They will also need to attend volunteer training. A Single Event Volunteer may serve for the day as long as the campus administrator verifies proof of COVID-19 vaccination and California Megan’s Law Website Clearance.
Family Organizations (WISH Community Association (WCA), committees, board meetings)
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill as a member of a family organization if I am volunteering on campus?
Family organization members volunteering on campus must meet the COVID-19 vaccination requirement. This includes having COVID-19 vaccination on file.
Counselors and Student Teachers
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill as a college intern from an organization or university when serving on campus?
College students who need to fulfill service hours as part of their program of study must be approved by a WISH administrator to complete hours on campus. Student teachers, interns, and fieldwork students must show evidence of their COVID-19 vaccination.
Contractors, Vendors, and other Partner Organizations (including major league sports and philanthropic partners)
What safety protocols and requirements should I fulfill as an employee of a third-party contractor or partner coming onto campus?
Third-party vendors, contractors, and partners are required to complete the Vaccination Certification Form prior to serving on campus.
- Disinfection of all high-touch surfaces twice daily.
- HVAC systems are programmed to support increased air ventilation even when heating or cooling is not required. These fans are operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Los Angeles Unified unveiled the nation’s largest school-based air monitoring network, the “Know Your Air Network,” which includes the installation of sensors at 200 school locations Districtwide.
- The network provides students, parents, teachers, and the community with important real-time data about their local outdoor air quality.
- $2 million, one-time purchase of electrostatic disinfecting units.
- Units are deployed nightly to disinfect all administrative areas, classrooms, and support spaces.
- $71 million annual investment in additional, intensive custodial support to disinfect all spaces nightly.
- $700,000 additional annual investment in cleaning and disinfecting supplies to target COVID-19-related safety.
- $20 million annual investment in maintaining upgraded air filtration systems.
- The District maintains an ample supply of MERV-13 filters and will continue bulk purchasing units to avoid future supply shortages or disruptions. We currently have enough filters for this school year.
- The District has increased the frequency of filter inspection. Over 115,000 air filters in schools Districtwide are inspected monthly and replaced as necessary due to the higher rate of particulate capture of the high-performance MERV-13 filters.
- $1.7 million investment in 1,750 portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) scrubber units for rapid deployment to any affected space where an HVAC service call has been initiated.
- The District has done testing to validate the effectiveness of air scrubbers, which provide the same high level of filtration as our MERV 13 air ventilation systems.
- Air scrubbers are deployed in high-density areas and areas with multiple-related positive cases.