School Health and Safety FAQs

We understand that extenuating circumstances may result in an elevated temperature (warm cars/carseats, student upset, etc). If a child has a temperature above 99.5 (the temperature threshold for student admittance agreed upon by the Taskforce), the parent will be required to pull into the Temple roundabout and wait for 5 minutes before a temperature re-check. If the child's temperature has lowered to an admissible range, the student will be permitted to enter Community Day School.

No. Each parent/guardian will have the option to take asymptomatic children home, as well.

The Taskforce created the following criteria that must be met for a child/staff member to be sent home:

1. Any child or staff member with a temperature over 99.5 degrees after two temperature checks will be sent home.

2. Any child with the following symptoms will be sent home: 

 - Fever
 - Runny nose*
 - Persistent cough*
 - Vomiting
 - Diarrhea

3. Any child who presents as "healthy" during the morning wellness check, but begins to develop any combination of the following symptoms will be sent home:

 - Temperature increase from morning check to above 99.5 threshold
 - New cough
 - Back pain
 - Abdominal pain
 - Substantial changes in behavior to show signs of illness
 - Lethargy
 - Sore throat

*should your child have a persistent runny nose or cough due to another medical condition, see the instructions from the following question.

If your child has seasonal and/or indoor-specific allergies, you must produce a note from your Primary Care Physician that states: "[Child's name} may have frequent allergy-type symptoms that include [list allergy symptoms]." 

If this note is not on file with the Front Office and your child presents with a runny nose, cough, or other symptom, your child will be sent home until they can be verified as "healthy" by a doctor.

If a child with an allergy note presents with any other COVID-19-like symptoms, they will be sent home.

If a student or teacher in your child's class tests positive for COVID-19, the entire class will be under precautionary quarantine for a minimum of 7 days. After 7 symptom-free days, your child will be permitted to return with a negative COVID-19 test taken on or after five days since the last date of exposure to a COVID-19 positive person. Should you choose not to get a COVID-19 test, your child will be permitted to return after 10 symptom-free days after the last date of exposure to a COVID-19 positive individual. 

For students in the Preschool, any class time lost as a result of a COVID-19-related closure up to two weeks would be added back into the school year at a later time. Any classroom time lost as a result of a COVID-19-related closure over two weeks will be credited back to the family/guardians. 

For students in Kindergarten - Grade 8, coursework for the affected class will shift to a Distance Learning format during the precautionary quarantine time of 7-10 days.

If your child tests positive for COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 school year, the first step is to inform the school. Please call the front desk at 941-552-2770 and alert the Director of your child's school level (Vickie Inglese for Preschool, Robin Sweeting for K-8). At this point, your school Director will provide you with any additional information or next steps.

Any CDS student in this situation must quarantine at home for 10 days after the person's positive test and/or until the person who is COVID-19 positive tests negative, whichever comes first. At that point, the child(ren) who was (were) COVID-19 negative (if they are still asymptomatic) must begin their 7-10 day precautionary quarantine (7 days with a negative COVID-19 test taken after Day 5, 10 days with no COVID-19 test).

Any siblings of students who are COVID-19 positive must also take part in a Precautionary Quarantine. If this child is still symptom-free 7 days after their sibling has now tested negative for COVID-19, they are welcome to return to Campus with a negative COVID-19 test taken on or after day 5 after their sibling tested negative for COVID-19. Should a family choose not to test the asymptomatic child, they may return - if still symptom-free - 10 days after their sibling has now tested negative for COVID-19.

This student - if enrolled in grades K-8 - will be automatically entered into the Adaptive Learning Program for the duration of their Quarantine.

Any child who has tested positive for COVID-19 is required to quarantine for a minimum of 14 days. Admittance to campus is predicated upon a negative result on a new COVID-19 test or 14 days away from school while symptom-free. 

Every teacher and staff member at Community Day School is required to wear a mask/face covering while in the building. The choice to wear any additional PPE will be up to every individual teacher.

Students will be welcome to use outdoor learning/play as an opportunity to take a break from wearing a mask. The expectation is, however, that students without masks will stay separated by at least 3 feet. We understand this can be difficult for students to maintain. If any student has more than one instance of close contact with another person while not wearing a mask/face covering, they will be asked to wear their mask/face covering again.

Whenever possible, classes will shift to picnic-style dining in an outdoor space. Should weather or other extenuating circumstances prevent classes from eating outdoors, students will be separated by a minimum of six feet to eat in their classroom.

Our Taskforce determined that students wearing masks/face coverings may be seated three feet apart (at the opposite edges of a table). 

All water fountains have been decommissioned. Community Day School is investing in no-touch water bottle filling options.

If any Preschool classroom must be quarantined as a result of a COVID-19 positive test by a student or teacher, or if the entire Preschool faces a mandatory closure, the first 2 weeks of class will be rescheduled for a later point in the school year. Any additional class time lost beyond those two weeks will be a 100% credit back to the affected Preschool family/families.