This information is intended to provide updates on Westonka Public Schools' response plan to the outbreak of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Please refer to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the latest updates.

As has been the case throughout this pandemic, Westonka Public Schools will prioritize and protect in-person learning opportunities for our students during the 2021-22 school year. Westonka students K-12 will attend school in person, five days a week. The District will follow all state and federal requirements related to COVID-19 and will adjust our protocols and procedures as needed in order to keep students safely in school.

We understand that the situation with COVID-19 is fluid, and Westonka’s COVID-19 policies could change at any time based on further state or federal direction, or in response to rising cases in our schools or community. Health and safety-related decisions will be made in consultation with the Minnesota Department of Health.

Handling Positive Cases of COVID-19

• Confirmed Cases:
  • Families and staff are asked to directly contact District Nurse Kelly Mattson if a student or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19, or if someone in their home has COVID-19. Families can also report this in Skyward Family Access. 
  • If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they will not be allowed to return to school activities for at least 5 days from the time the symptoms started and until symptoms have improved and they have had no fever for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications. If they test positive but have no symptoms, they will be required to stay home for 5 days counting from the day they were tested: Quarantine/Isolation Guidelines.
  • Students who test positive for COVID-19 will receive instruction similar to other long-term absences and the absence will be excused.
• Quarantines: 
  
  • Unvaccinated students will be required to quarantine for at least 5 days should a member of their household test positive for COVID-19: Quarantine/Isolation Guidelines.
  • A quarantine period for close contacts outside the home is still considered best practice but will not be required.
  • Students who are fully vaccinated, or who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days, do not need to quarantine if exposed to a positive case unless they develop symptoms. 
  • Quarantined students will receive instruction similar to other long-term absences and the absence will be excused.
• Contact Tracing & Communication: Schools will not be conducting contact tracing unless circumstances require.
  • Primary school and middle school families will be notified if there is a positive case of COVID-19 in their child’s classroom
  • Mound Westonka High School families will be notified if their child is identified by an individual as a close contact
  • Additionally, the district will communicate all positive cases among students and staff in school buildings on a weekly basis via a public data dashboard

COVID-19 Situation Monitoring

The Westonka District COVID-19 Support Team, made up of the superintendent, district nurse and a committee of the school board, will closely monitor county and local case data to determine if any additional COVID-19 mitigation strategies are warranted.

COVID-19 Dashboard

The Westonka Public Schools COVID-19 Dashboard will be updated weekly on Wednesdays with new information from the previous week: www.westonka.k12.mn.us/covid19/dashboard. The dashboard includes school and community metrics that are being closely monitored by the District COVID-19 Support Team.

[Learn more about the school and community transmission indicators]