Haggard Childcare Resources COVID Policies (Updated 10/7/2024)

Vaccinations:

  1. All HCR employees are strongly recommended to be fully vaccinated. Receiving the new COVID vaccine, released (9/2023), constitutes vaccination.

  2. At this time, children are encouraged, but not required to be vaccinated.

Triggers to Return to Mandatory Masking: HCR schools will work to be thoughtful in determining a return to masking. This will be dependent on the situation within each school, within the community, and through guidance from Public Health Seattle-King County. The below are our intended triggers:

  1.  COVID-19 hospital admission levels in King County reaches "Medium", per the CDC. Masks would remain mandatory until the level returns to “Low” (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_new-admissions-rate-county)

  2.  COVID cases within the school constitutes an “outbreak” (There are five COVID cases in a defined or related space over a 14-Day period). Masking would remain mandatory for staff until 10 days after the date of last exposure.

    *Classroom staff will mask in accordance with the CDC and WA DOH guidance if there is a single confirmed case in the classroom. All children will be encouraged to mask, if age and developmentally appropriate.

Positive COVID Cases:

Adults:

  • Adults are no longer required to isolate for the 5-day period after symptoms or a positive test.  Adults may return to the school when they have been fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication and their symptoms are improving. 

  • Adults will wear a close fitting mask five days after returning to normal activites.

  • Adults are not required to have a negative test prior to returning to school after the appearance of symptoms.

Preschool-aged Children:

  • Preschool aged children with confirmed COVID are no longer required to isolate for the 5-day period.

  • Preschool aged children may return to school when they have been fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication and their symptoms are improving.  Preschooler will be encouraged to wear a mask for a five day period following a return to normal activities.

  • Preschool aged children are not required to have a negative test prior to returning to school after the appearance of symptoms.

Infants and Toddlers:

  • Infants and Toddlers will still need to isolate for the 5-day period following a positive test (reduced from 10 days).  This continued isolation period is to mitigate the impact of being unable to consistently wear a mask.

  • After the 5-day isolation, Infants and Toddlers may return to school when they have been fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medication and their symptoms are improving.

  • Infants and Toddlers are not required to have a negative test prior to returning to school after the appearance of symptoms.

Close Contact Exposure

In case of a positive COVID case in a classroom:

  1. All staff members, families, and children are encouraged to mask for the 10-day period following an exposure, if age and developmentally appropriate. We understand Infants and Toddlers under 2 years will not be masking during this time.

Caveat for Outbreaks

If the school experiences a COVID outbreak, defined by Public Health Seattle-King County as 5 related cases within a defined/related space within a 14 day period, we will revert back to our previous guidance for a 10 day period, following the last of the related cases.  This will include the previous guidelines on testing, isolation, and contingencies.

Revised Guidance in Case of Outbreak

Exclusion for Symptoms

In the event of an outbreak, any child in the defined/related space will be excluded for any symptoms identified in the Public Health Seattle King-County, unless the child receives a negative COVID test. There is no need to provide proof of the negative COVID test- we trust you!

Notification/Testing

In case of outbreak, we will notify all families across the school, regardless of their presence in the defined space of the outbreak. We encourage all families to test their child for COVID on the next day, before arriving at school. No negative results must be reported, but we ask that you share any positive result your child may have.

Household Exposure

Now, exposure from a household member will no longer require a quarantine period.  However, the exposed child must test daily with a negative result to remain in care, through Day 5 from the last date of exposure.   We understand this could result in numerous tests, but believe it is a worthwhile trade-off.

Isolation

HCR previously used different isolation periods for Infants/Toddlers and Preschoolers, with Infants/Toddlers required to isolate for the full 10-day period.  We are now aligning the isolation periods for all age groups, with qualifiers.  A child may return to care after five full days of isolation (Day 6 or later) when:

  1. Their symptoms have improved or they are asymptomatic

  2. They have been fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication

  3. They have a negative test any day after Day 5

  4. If age and developmentally appropriate, wear a mask while at school

If these qualifiers are not met, the child must still isolate for the full 10 days.

Staffing Classrooms

As our policy continues to evolve to less classroom closures and exclusion, we've experienced increased instances with multiple staff absent for COVID or symptoms at any time.  While we will continue to adjust as we can, there may be times when the reduced staffing will require a classroom to reduce hours or close temporarily.  Please be mindful of this possibility and plan accordingly.