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Guidance For California Schools
Guidance For California Schools
INDUSTRY
GUIDANCE:
Schools and School-
Based Programs
o Consult with your county health officer, or designated staff, who are
best positioned to monitor and provide advice on local conditions. A
directory can be found here.
o Incorporate the CDPH Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings, into
the School Site Specific Plan that includes a policy for handling
exemptions.
o Regularly evaluate the workplace for compliance with the plan and
document and correct deficiencies identified.
o Identify individuals who have been in close contact (within six feet for
15 minutes or more) of an infected person and take steps to isolate
COVID-19 positive person(s) and close contacts. See Section 10 for
more detail.
Schools should review the CDPH Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings
and any applicable local health department guidance and incorporate
face-covering use for students and workers into their COVID-19
prevention plan. Some flexibility may be needed for younger children
consistent with child development recommendations. See Section 3 for
more information.
2. Promote Healthy Hygiene Practices
Teach and reinforce washing hands, avoiding contact with one's eyes,
nose, and mouth, and covering coughs and sneezes among students
and staff.
o Teach students and remind staff to use tissue to wipe their nose and
to cough/sneeze inside a tissue or their elbow.
o Students and staff should wash their hands frequently throughout the
day, including before and after eating; after coughing or sneezing;
after classes where they handle shared items, such as outside
recreation, art, or shop; and before and after using the restroom.
o Students and staff should wash their hands for 20 seconds with soap,
rubbing thoroughly after application. Soap products marketed as
“antimicrobial” are not necessary or recommended.
o Staff should model and practice handwashing. For example, for
lower grade levels, use bathroom time as an opportunity to reinforce
healthy habits and monitor proper handwashing.
o Students and staff should use fragrance-free hand sanitizer when
handwashing is not practicable. Sanitizer must be rubbed into hands
until completely dry. Note: frequent handwashing is more effective
than the use of hand sanitizers.
o Ethyl alcohol-based hand sanitizers are preferred and should be used
when there is the potential of unsupervised use by children.
Isopropyl hand sanitizers are more toxic when ingested or
absorbed in skin.
Do not use hand sanitizers that may contain methanol which can
be hazardous when ingested or absorbed.
o Children under age 9 should only use hand sanitizer under adult
supervision. Call Poison Control if consumed: 1-800-222-1222.
Consider portable handwashing stations throughout a site and near
classrooms to minimize movement and congregations in bathrooms to
the extent practicable.
Develop routines enabling students and staff to regularly wash their
hands at staggered intervals.
Ensure adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene behaviors,
including soap, tissues, no-touch trashcans, face coverings, and hand
sanitizers with at least 60 percent ethyl alcohol for staff and children who
can safely use hand sanitizer.
Information contained in the CDPH Guidance for the Use of Face
Coverings should be provided to staff and families, which discusses the
circumstances in which face coverings must be worn and the
exemptions, as well as any policies, work rules, and practices the
employer has adopted to ensure the use of face coverings.
Employers must provide and ensure staff use face coverings in
accordance with CDPH guidelines and all required protective
equipment.
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) and
the Department of Public Health (CDPH) are and will be working to
support procurement and distribution of face coverings and personal
protective equipment. Additional information can be found here.
Strongly recommend that all students and staff be immunized each
autumn against influenza unless contraindicated by personal medical
conditions, to help:
o Protect the school community
o Reduce demands on health care facilities
o Decrease illnesses that cannot be readily distinguished from COVID-
19 and would therefore trigger extensive measures from the school
and public health authorities.
Nothing in this guidance should be interpreted as restricting access to
appropriate educational services.
3. Face Coverings
Face coverings must be used in accordance with CDPH guidelines unless a
person is exempt as explained in the guidelines, particularly in indoor
environments, on school buses, and areas where physical distancing alone is
not sufficient to prevent disease transmission.
Teach and reinforce use of face coverings, or in limited instances, face
shields.
Students and staff should be frequently reminded not to touch the face
covering and to wash their hands frequently.
Information should be provided to all staff and families in the school
community on proper use, removal, and washing of cloth face
coverings.
Training should also include policies on how people who are exempted
from wearing a face covering will be addressed.
STUDENTS
Age Face Covering Requirement
Strongly encouraged**
2 years old – 2nd grade
**Face coverings are strongly encouraged for young children between two years old
and second grade, if they can be worn properly. A face shield is an acceptable
alternative for children in this cohort who cannot wear them properly.
Persons younger than two years old, anyone who has trouble breathing,
anyone who is unconscious or incapacitated, and anyone who is
otherwise unable to remove the face covering without assistance are
exempt from wearing a face covering.
STAFF
All staff must use face coverings in accordance with CDPH guidelines
unless Cal/OSHA standards require respiratory protection.
Ensure that all staff use face coverings in accordance with CDPH
guidelines and Cal/OSHA standards.
Support staff who are at higher risk for severe illness or who cannot safely
distance from household contacts at higher risk, by providing options
such as telework, where appropriate, or teaching in a virtual learning or
independent study context.
o Door handles
o Light switches
o Sink handles
o Bathroom surfaces
o Tables
o Student Desks
o Chairs
Limit use and sharing of objects and equipment, such as toys, games, art
supplies and playground equipment to the extent practicable. When
shared use is allowed, clean and disinfect between uses.
o Custodial staff and any other workers who clean and disinfect the
school site must be equipped with proper protective equipment,
including gloves, eye protection, respiratory protection, and other
appropriate protective equipment as required by the product
instructions. All products must be kept out of children’s reach and
stored in a space with restricted access.
Take steps to ensure that all water systems and features (for example,
drinking fountains and decorative fountains) are safe to use after a
prolonged facility shutdown to minimize the risk of Legionnaires’ disease
and other diseases associated with water.
Maximize space between students and between students and the driver
on school buses and open windows to the greatest extent practicable.
Minimize contact at school between students, staff, families and the
community at the beginning and end of the school day. Prioritize
minimizing contact between adults at all times.
Stagger arrival and drop off-times and locations as consistently as
practicable as to minimize scheduling challenges for families.
Designate routes for entry and exit, using as many entrances as feasible.
Put in place other protocols to limit direct contact with others as much
as practicable.
Implement health screenings of students and staff upon arrival at school
(see Section 9).
Ensure each bus is equipped with extra unused face coverings on school
buses for students who may have inadvertently failed to bring one.
Classroom Space
Prioritize the use and maximization of outdoor space for activities where
practicable.
Youth sports and physical education are permitted only when the following
can be maintained: (1) physical distancing of at least six feet; and (2) a
stable cohort, such as a class, that limits the risks of transmission (see CDC
Guidance on Schools and Cohorting). Activities should take place outside
to the maximum extent practicable.
For sports that cannot be conducted with sufficient distancing or cohorting,
only physical conditioning and training is permitted and ONLY where
physical distancing can be maintained. Conditioning and training should
focus on individual skill building (e.g., running drills and body weight
resistance training) and should take place outside, where practicable.
Indoor physical conditioning and training is allowed only in counties where
gyms and fitness centers are allowed to operate indoors.
Consistent with guidance for gyms and fitness facilities, cloth face coverings
must be worn during indoor physical conditioning and training or physical
education classes (except when showering). Activities that require heavy
exertion should be conducted outside in a physically distanced manner
without face coverings. Activities conducted inside should be those that do
not require heavy exertion and can be done with a face covering. Players
should take a break from exercise if any difficulty in breathing is noted and
should change their mask or face covering if it becomes wet and sticks to
the player’s face and obstructs breathing. Masks that restrict airflow under
heavy exertion (such as N-95 masks) are not advised for exercise.
7. Limit Sharing
Keep each child’s belongings separated and in individually labeled
storage containers, cubbies or areas. Ensure belongings are taken home
each day to be cleaned.
Avoid sharing electronic devices, clothing, toys, books and other games
or learning aids as much as practicable. Where sharing occurs, clean
and disinfect between uses.
8. Train All Staff and Educate Families
Train all staff and provide educational materials to families in the
following safety actions:
o Screening practices
Actively encourage staff and students who are sick or who have
recently had close contact with a person with COVID-19 to stay home.
Develop policies that encourage sick staff and students to stay at home
without fear of reprisal, and ensure staff, students and students’ families
are aware of these policies.
Implement screening and other procedures for all staff and students
entering the facility.
Conduct visual wellness checks of all students or establish procedures for
parents to monitor at home. If checking temperatures, use a no-touch
thermometer.
Monitor staff and students throughout the day for signs of illness; send
home students and staff with a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, cough
or other COVID-19 symptoms.
Policies should not penalize students and families for missing class.
Check State and local orders and health department notices daily
about transmission in the area or closures and adjust operations
accordingly.
o Close off the classroom or office where the patient was based and
do not use these areas until after cleaning and disinfection. Wait at
least 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting. If 24 hours is not
feasible, wait for at least two hours and as long as possible.