Creating a Safe and Healthy Environment
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Since March 2020 when all schools in Minnesota were required to move to distance learning due to the severity COVID-19 pandemic, Lakeville Area Schools has taken many significant steps to create the safest possible environment for anyone who enters our building. These steps include the creation of a Face Covering Policy, implementing social distancing to the fullest extent possible, and thorough daily cleaning protocols. We continue to follow the guidelines of the Minnesota Department of Health and consult with public health experts to follow best practices for safety measures, including around isolation and quarantine protocols and COVID-19 testing. We monitor COVID-19 conditions on a daily basis and report positive cases to our state and local public health experts and partner with them to determine the most appropriate learning model for the health and safety of our students and staff, while providing a quality education.
Health Screening Protocols
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The health and safety of our students and staff remains our top priority. It is important that all families complete the following health self-checks with their student(s) every morning before sending them to school.
Do NOT attend school or work if you have any symptoms of COVID-19, have tested positive, or are waiting for test results.
- Review Symptoms Here
- Please see the MDH Covid-19 Decision Tree for more detailed information.
- If you are waiting for a test, please follow the MDH guidance about what to do while you wait for a COVID-19 test result
Students who show signs of illness while in school buildings will be referred to the building nurse for an evaluation of symptoms. A student who becomes ill during the school day will be brought to the designated isolation area in the school building until their parent/caregiver can arrange for pick up per MDH guidelines. (Resource: What to do when you are sick)
Face Covering Protocols
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In accordance with MDE and MDH guidelines and the district’s Face Covering Policy, all K-12 students, staff and visitors are required to wear face coverings inside all district buildings and on school district transportation, unless an accommodation is required. Students in early childhood programs may wear a face covering if they can do so independently, but will not be required to do so. Acceptable face coverings include a paper or disposable mask, cloth face covering, scarf, bandana, or religious face covering.
If a student cannot tolerate or wear a typical face covering due to a developmental, medical or behavioral health condition, they may wear a clear, plastic face shield instead. Face shields should still cover the entire face, extending from ear to ear and down past the chin. The District will provide face shields to students who need one due to developmental, medical or behavioral health conditions.
For early childhood education programs, children ages 0-2 should not wear face coverings. Children ages 3-5, may wear a face covering if they can do so independently, but will not be required to do so. Early childhood staff will not be managing the wearing of face coverings for children. Adult students in Early Childhood Family Education classes and adults inside the Crystal Lake Education Center building are required to wear face coverings in accordance with state guidance.
Individuals who cannot wear a face covering due to a medical condition or disability-related condition may make a request for reasonable accommodations. These will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Face coverings will be available at building entrances as needed. Personal protective equipment (PPE) will be supplied according to MDH guidelines.
NEW (beginning Jan. 4): All students participating in sports and activities must also wear face coverings at all times, as well as spectators and others visiting district facilities or attending district-sponsored co-curricular events.

Quarantine and Contact Tracing
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Lakeville Area Schools conducts contact tracing every time a staff member or student is confirmed to have COVID-19 per the Minnesota Department of Health guidelines. Contact tracing identifies individuals who were close contacts exposed to the infected individual. Students and staff who were close contacts must quarantine at home for 14 days and not come into work or school. Contact tracing is one of many necessary mitigation measures in order to provide full-time, in-person learning and/or hybrid learning teaching models.
As case rates in our communities, schools and classrooms fluctuate, it remains important that all families have contingency plans in case their student(s) needs to quarantine and remain at home.
Below are several Frequently Asked Questions about quarantine and the contact tracing process. For more information about quarantine, please review Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Quarantine Guidance for COVID-19.
- Updated as of April 14, 2021
Quarantine and Contact Tracing FAQs
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What is quarantine?
Individuals must quarantine - or separate oneself from others - when people who have been close to a person with COVID-19 (an exposure). Since people with COVID-19 become contagious before symptoms start or may have no symptoms at all, quarantine is an important way to keep COVID-19 from spreading. To protect family, other close contacts, and the community, a person who has been exposed to a person with COVID-19 must stay home and away from others (quarantine), get tested, and watch themselves for symptoms, such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell.
It is important that all families have contingency plans in case their student(s) needs to quarantine and remain at home.
For more information about quarantine, please review Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Quarantine Guidance for COVID-19.
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Why does my student and/or I need to be quarantined?
There are several reasons a student or adult might need to quarantine, even if they are not diagnosed with COVID-19:
- Student was within 6 feet of someone contagious with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more over the course of a day (24 hours). This is the most common reason we are seeing in our contract tracing in the District. One student who goes to school while infected with COVID-19 can inadvertently cause dozens of students to need to quarantine.
- A member of the student’s household has COVID-19
- A student had direct physical contact (hugging, handshake or other types of physical contact) with a person who has COVID-19
- A student has provided care for a person who has COVID-19
- A student had direct exposure to respiratory droplets from a person contagious with COVID-19
- A student has traveled outside Minnesota for reasons other than work, study, medical care or personal safety and security.
*Note: A classroom of students who are together for most of the school day in a classroom could be considered close contacts, even if sitting 6 feet apart, because of the length of time spent together in a room doing many different activities.
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How long does my student or I need to quarantine?
A person who needs to quarantine must do so for 14 days after their last exposure. This is the best strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others because symptoms can develop at any time during a 14-day period. During this quarantine period:
- Do not go to work, school or any other place outside the home
- Do not invite guests from outside your household into your home
- If possible, separate from other people in your home, especially people who are at high risk for getting very sick from COVID-19.
- Monitor for symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath, chills, headache, muscle pain, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell. If symptoms develop, contact a health care provider and get tested for COVID-19.
- Even if you don’t have symptoms, you should get tested for COVID-19 five days or later after the exposure. If test results are positive, follow the recommendations for confirmed cases.
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If the District is following the 14-day quarantine guidance, why do some students need to quarantine for longer than that?
Depending on the situation, quarantine can last longer than 14 days. If someone in a household has COVID-19, all other members of the household must quarantine while the infected person completes an isolation period (usually 10 days from the day their symptoms started). After the infected person completes the isolation period, all other members of the household need to begin their 14-day quarantine period. This means if students who live with a parent or sibling who gets COVID-19, they may need to quarantine for 24 days or more.
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What is a 10 + 14 day quarantine?
When a person is infected with COVID-19, they must isolate for 10 days from the day their symptoms started. This is known as the infectious period when a person can spread the virus to others. It includes two days before a person has symptoms and at least 10 days after symptoms start. For a person without symptoms, the infectious period is two days before the date the person tests positive for COVID-19 and at least 10 days after.
Anyone else living in the same household are at risk of contracting COVID-19 at any time during that period. This is why people who live in the same household as someone who has COVID-19, such as siblings or parents, must quarantine for the duration of that person’s 10-day isolation plus the 14-days or quarantine after. That’s why quarantine can sometimes need to last 24 days or more.
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When is an individual with COVID-19 considered infectious?
A person with COVID-19 can spread the virus to others even when they may not be experiencing any symptoms. A person is considered to be infectious two days before they have symptoms, and at least 10 days after symptoms start. For a person without symptoms, the infectious period is two days before the date the person tests positive for COVID-19 and at least 10 days after.
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Can my child participate in activities while in quarantine?
No. Anyone who is quarantined must stay at home and not go to work, school or any activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to others.
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How does the contact tracing process work?
The District does contact tracing every time it is notified of a positive COVID-19 case. District staff find out who an infected staff or student had close contact with in district facilities and transportation in order to determine who, if anyone else, might need to quarantine because they were exposed as a close contact. To help with this process, students have assigned seats in class, at lunch, and on buses.
People who are within 6 feet of someone with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more over the course of a day (24 hours) are considered close contacts. MDH has provided the District guidance with how to contact trace for different grade levels.
At this time in Elementary schools, MDH is instructing districts to quarantine entire elementary classrooms if an individual is positive and in class during their infectious period (two days before symptoms begin or two days before a positive test). Entire classrooms are quarantined due to the amount of time elementary students spend together.
At the Secondary level, all students identified as being within 6 feet of a person with COVID-19 for a total of 15 minutes or more within a 24 hour period will be required to quarantine for 14 days. This is the case for each class the infected person was in during the infectious period.
On school buses, close contacts include riders who were in the same row, two rows ahead and two rows behind the infected person for 15 minutes or more cumulatively. However, all riders on an entire bus may be considered close contacts and need to quarantine if any of the following are true:
- If riders were not in their assigned seat
- There is no documentation or other way to confirm seating assignments
- Riders were engaged in activities that involve the removal of face coverings
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There is guidance for shorter quarantine periods. Why is the District not doing shorter quarantines?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided guidance for shorter quarantine periods of seven to ten days, but the Minnesota Department of Health still recommends the full 14-day quarantine period for the greatest protection against spreading COVID-19. An essential condition of the shorter quarantine period is that a person must be able to stay six feet away from others after a shortened quarantine. That social distancing is impossible in our school settings when students are in both a full-time in-person learning model and hybrid learning model.
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What if me or my student is fully vaccinated? Do they need to quarantine?
According to MDH, if an adult or student has completed the COVID-19 vaccination (two doses in a two-dose series or one dose in a one dose series) and is exposed to someone with COVID-19 and ALL the following are true, they do not need to quarantine:
- The COVID-19 exposure was at least 14 days after their vaccination series was fully completed.
- They do not currently have any symptoms of COVID-19.
If a fully vaccinated student or adult is experiencing any symptoms they do need to isolate and get tested for COVID-19.
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What if I have already had COVID-19? Does my student or I still need to quarantine?
If a person was previously diagnosed with COVID-19 and is exposed again within 90 days of the time they were sick, they do not need to quarantine if ALL of the following are true:
- Their previous illness was laboratory confirmed within the past 90 days
- They have fully recovered
- They do not currently have symptoms of COVID-19
If a person previously exposed with COVID-19 is exposed again AFTER 90 days since their initial illness, they will need to quarantine again.
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What can I do to prevent students and staff from needing to quarantine?
The most important thing families and students can do to prevent quarantine is to stay home if they are:
- Diagnosed with COVID-19
- If they are showing symptoms of COVID-19
- If they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 outside of school
- If they are sick
It is important to continue to follow health and safety guidelines including:
- Wear a mask
- Social distance by staying 6 feet away from others
- Avoid crowds
- Wash your hands often
It is also a good idea to get tested for COVID-19 fairly regularly, especially if your student is in activities where they are regularly around other students in higher contact situations. Testing can help identify COVID-19 cases early and potentially prevent a student from coming to school while infected with COVID-19, thus minimizing the number of others who need to quarantine.
Stay Safe and Healthy
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it is important everyone in the Lakeville Area continues to take measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Please continue to socially distance and wear a face covering over your nose and mouth when in public, practice good hygiene, and get tested if you have symptoms or are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
Get Tested
The Minnesota Department of Health announced a recommendation for all school-age youth returning to school, youth sports, or extracurricular activities, and their families, to get tested every two weeks through the end of the school year.While it is not a requirement, regular testing complements other safety measures already in place, such as masking and social distancing. Getting tested every two weeks from now until the end of the school year can help keep schools open and sports operating, and ensure we are limiting the spread of COVID-19.Get Vaccinated
The Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector is a tool that helps Minnesotans find out when, where, and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine. After you fill out a simple form, the Vaccine Connector will:- alert you when you are eligible to receive a vaccine;
- connect you to resources to schedule a vaccine appointment; and
- notify you if there are vaccine opportunities in your area.