FAQs for Families

Please note, guidance for the 2021-22 school year continues to evolve. District 58 will continue to follow guidance provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the DuPage County Health Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Illinois State Board of Education.

Please view the Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education's joint guidance for COVID-19 prevention in schools (updated Jan. 11, 2022). Please also view the District 58 fall 2021 instructional plan for more information!

Please view our most frequently asked questions regarding COVID and District 58 below.

1. What changes were made when District 58 shifted to a mask-recommended policy on Feb. 14, 2022?

Please view our February 2022 COVID-19 mitigations FAQ guide here.

Please read a recap of the Feb. 10 Board of Education meeting.

Please read Dr. Russell's Feb. 9 message.

2. What are the isolation requirements for confirmed positive COVID-19 cases?

Updated Guidance for Confirmed Positive COVID-19 Cases:

Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 must stay home for at least five days (with day zero being the first day of symptoms or the day a positive result is received, if asymptomatic), regardless of vaccination status.

Individuals can end isolation after five full days if they are fever-free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medications and if the other symptoms have improved. However, these individuals must also continue to consistently wear a mask and keep 6 feet of physical distance for an additional five days after release from isolation. If masks need to be removed (i.e. lunch), schools will ensure that 6 feet of physical distancing can be provided until 10 days after symptom onset or positive test.

Updated Guidance for Close Contacts to a Positive COVID-19 Case:

The following groups of people do not need to quarantine after a close contact with a positive COVID-19 case. However, you are recommended to consistently wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days and get tested at least five days after that close contact.

Students who have completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines.
IDPH is also recommending boosters for students after five months.
Staff who have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters (the booster requirement is new).
People who had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (tested positive using a viral test).

The following individuals are recommended -- but not required -- to complete a quarantine if they come into close contact with someone with COVID-19:

Staff who completed the primary series of recommended vaccines, but have not received a recommended booster shot when eligible.
Staff who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine (completing the primary series) over two months ago and have not received a recommended booster shot.
Students who have started but not completed a primary vaccine series (i.e. had one shot of a two-shot vaccine series; or those who received their second shot less than two weeks from the close contact).
Any student or staff member who is unvaccinated

Close contacts in this category are recommended, but not required, to stay home for at least five days, with the date of the exposure considered day 0. If you develop symptoms, get tested immediately. If you do not develop symptoms, get tested at least five days after your most recent close contact with the positive case. If you test positive, please follow the updated isolation guidance, referenced earlier in this message. If you test negative, you may end your quarantine.

3. Can you tell me more about District 58's voluntary COVID-19 testing program?

District 58’s encourages families to sign their child up for free weekly PCR COVID-19 testing. The weekly test only takes a couple of minutes to administer from the convenience of your child’s school. Families can select from any or all of three types of testing services including:

Weekly screening testing (routine testing)
Symptomatic testing (testing when a student or staff member develops symptoms at school)
Test-to-Stay (testing for situations in which a student has been identified as a close contact while correctly wearing a mask at school)

Learn more here. Signup links are available in Dr. Russell's Sept. 15 districtwide email and in his Oct. 1 districtwide email.

4. Can you tell me more about the Test to Stay option?

Test to Stay is a program that allows students identified as close contacts to a positive COVID-19 case to stay in school by getting tested for COVID-19 while at school on days one, three, five and seven after exposure, as long as they continue to test negative. Please note, Test to Stay is only available for those who have been deemed a close contact in school while properly wearing a mask. This program has been approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) recently made this option available to school districts in our county. Families must sign up for District 58's voluntary testing program and select the "Test to Stay" option in order to use this option. Please see Dr. Russell's Sept. 15 or Oct. 1 emails for signup links.

5. My child is not vaccinated. When should I exclude my child from school due to COVID-19?

An unvaccinated student should stay home from school if he/she has:

any COVID-19 symptoms OR
a close contact to someone with COVID-19 (recommended but not required)
a close contact to someone suspected to have COVID-19 who has waited more than 24 hours to get tested and/or is at high suspicion of being positive (i.e. has known close contacts or lost sense of taste/smell) (recommended but not required)

6. My child is vaccinated OR my child had COVID-19 in the last three months. When should I exclude my child from school due to COVID-19?

A vaccinated student and/or a student who had COVID in the last three months should stay home from school if he/she has:

any COVID-19 symptoms

If your child is vaccinated and asymptomatic, or if your child had COVID-19 within the last three months and is asymptomatic, he/she does not need to quarantine after a close contact. However, the CDC recommends fully vaccinated and asymptomatic individuals get tested five to seven days after the known exposure and wear a mask in all public indoor settings for 10 days after exposure or until a negative test result.

7. What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

Please keep your child home if he/she displays any of the following symptoms:

Fever greater than 100.4 F
New onset of moderate to severe headache
Shortness of breath
New cough
Sore throat
Vomiting
Diarrhea
New loss of taste or smell
Fatigue from unknown cause
Muscle/body aches from unknown cause

8. What does it mean to be a close contact of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case?

The following groups of people do not need to quarantine after a close contact with a positive COVID-19 case. However, you are recommended to consistently wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days and get tested at least five days after that close contact.

Students who have completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines. IDPH is also recommending boosters for students after five months.
Staff who have received all recommended vaccine doses, including boosters (the booster requirement is new).
People who had confirmed COVID-19 within the last 90 days (tested positive using a viral test).

The following individuals are recommended but not required to complete a quarantine if they come into close contact with someone with COVID-19:

Staff who completed the primary series of recommended vaccines, but have not received a recommended booster shot when eligible.
Staff who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine (completing the primary series) over two months ago and have not received a recommended booster shot.
Students who have started but not completed a primary vaccine series (i.e. had one shot of a two-shot vaccine series; or those who received their second shot less than two weeks from the close contact).
Any student or staff member who is unvaccinated

The guidance states that close contacts in this category are recommended, but not required, to stay home for at least five days, with the date of the exposure considered day 0. If you develop symptoms, get tested immediately. If you do not develop symptoms, get tested at least five days after your most recent close contact with the positive case. If you test positive, please follow the updated isolation guidance, referenced earlier in this message. If you test negative, you may end your quarantine.

Note: If a student’s sibling/household member displays COVID-19 symptoms, the student can continue to attend school IF the sick household member is tested within 24 hours of symptom onset AND if the sick household member is not at high-suspicion of having COVID-19 (i.e. they are not a known close contact or they have not lost sense of taste and smell).

Please reference the Illinois Department of Public Health decision tree (the IDPH is currently updating their decision tree) for more information.

9. What should I do if my child has COVID-19 symptoms?

Please keep your child home from school and let your school know that your child has COVID-19 symptoms.

If your child displays symptoms of COVID-19, you may choose to test your child for COVID-19 or complete a minimum 5-day quarantine (with day 0 being the first day of symptoms).

10. Where can I test my child for COVID-19?

Please click here to view a list of nearby COVID-19 testing sites. District 58 also offers testing through its voluntary COVID-19 testing program.

11. My child tested positive for COVID-19. What should I do?

If a student tests positive for COVID-19, please contact the school immediately so staff can determine whether there were any in-school close contacts. The child must stay home for at least five days (with day zero being the first day of symptoms or the day a positive result is received, if asymptomatic), regardless of vaccination status.

Individuals can end isolation after five full days if they are fever-free for 24 hours without use of fever-reducing medications and if the other symptoms have improved. However, these individuals should also continue to consistently wear a mask and keep 6 feet of physical distance for an additional five days after release from isolation. If masks need to be removed (i.e. lunch), schools will ensure that 6 feet of physical distancing can be provided until 10 days after symptom onset or positive test.

12. My child has COVID-19 symptoms. What happens if I choose not to test my child?

If a child displays COVID-19 symptoms and does not take a test, the student must stay home for at least 5 days (with day 0 being the first day of symptoms), be fever free for 24 hours without the use of medication, and have an improvement of symptoms.

13. My child tested negative for COVID-19 and/or my child received an alternative diagnosis from the doctor. What should I do?

If your child had no close contacts and received a negative result on the RT-PCR COVID-19 test, he or she must show proof of the negative test result before returning to school.

If a student or staff member has a COVID-19 symptom and he or she already has a doctor’s alternative diagnosis on file in the school’s health office for that particular symptom (i.e. recurring migraines or allergies), the individual can return to school without getting tested. This is our current practice, and it has not changed. However, as of 9/21/21, if an alternative diagnosis is not already on file, that individual is required to present a negative PCR COVID-19 test result in order to return to school. An alternative diagnosis alone will not be accepted. If the student presents both a negative test result AND an alternative diagnosis for that symptom, the school will add that alternative diagnosis to the student’s health file. If the student displays that symptom again, a test would not be required for attending school.