Please review this overview of staff COVID-19 guidelines for school year 2022-23. For full details on SPPS’s COVID-19 health and safety plan, read the SPPS COVID-19 Employee Workplace Manual and spps.org/covid.

Staff Vaccination and Testing Resolution Rescinded  

On August 23, 2022, the Board of Education rescinded the District’s Vaccination and Testing Resolution, approved initially on September 3, 2021. In rescinding the policy, the Board recognized that requiring acknowledgment of vaccination is no longer an effective way to increase vaccination rates. Read the Board statement regarding the recision of the resolution here.

As such, SPPS employees and contractors will no longer be required to acknowledge their vaccination status or test weekly for COVID-19. The district will continue to promote vaccination opportunities, testing and other protective measures.

Exclusion Guidance

Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 will isolate for 5 days and can return to school and work if they have been fever-free for 24 hours and have no or improved symptoms. Masks are strongly recommended for an additional 5 days after their isolation period when they return to school and work.

Unvaccinated students and staff are no longer required to quarantine for 5 days if a household member has COVID-19. If a household member tests positive for COVID-19, all students and staff from that household are strongly encouraged to wear a mask at school and work until the person’s symptoms are gone. If the student or staff member develops symptoms and/or tests positive for COVID-19, submit a report to the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System to receive information about next steps and do not go to work or school.

Isolation due to a positive COVID-19 case is considered an excused absence for students. Teachers will share resources and materials through Seesaw/Schoology and other means for students who are home due to COVID-19. Students will have accommodation for extended deadlines or the option to make up work as needed.

Masks

Face masks are optional in all SPPS buildings and on school transportation when community levels of COVID-19 are low to medium in Ramsey County. Masks are required when community levels of COVID-19 are high in Ramsey County. This applies to all staff, students and visitors (ages 2 and older), regardless of a person’s vaccine status, unless a person has a qualifying exemption.

When community levels are high, staff are required to wear both a cloth mask and a medical/surgical grade mask when delivering direct student support services. These services include direct care with ill students or health care procedures involving respiratory or aerosol-generating procedures.

Community levels for COVID-19 are updated by the CDC every Thursday. SPPS will notify families and staff if COVID-19 levels are high and masks become required. Visit spps.org/coviddashboard to see the number of COVID-19 cases at each school and in SPPS overall.

COVID-19 Testing

The State of Minnesota is providing at-home test kits to K-12 schools for use by staff and students. SPPS will have COVID-19 tests available for symptomatic staff and students, based on availability of viral test kits from MDH. Any positive COVID-19 test result should be reported using the SPPS COVID-19 Reporting System.

Guidance Vaccine Clinics

SPPS will continue to host vaccine clinics and promote community clinics at spps.org/covidvaccine.