COVID-19 Guidelines

What is a Confirmed Positive Case? Teacher or student has a positive COVID19 PCR result or rapid antigen test.

What is Close Contact? Anyone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes regardless of face coverings, starting from 48 hours before the person began feeling sick until the time the patient was isolated.

What is Contact tracing? In consultation with DHEC, PG nursing staff will trace any close contacts of any individual who was within 6 feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to positive specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.

What is quarantine? Quarantine is used to separate people who are close contacts of someone with a contagious disease, like COVID-19, from others for a period of time to see if they become sick.  This is a method to prevent the spread of disease.  When someone is quarantining, they should stay home and avoid contact with other people until the quarantine period is over. This includes people in their household as much as it is possible.

For COVID-19, the quarantine period is 14 days from the time of last exposure to the person with COVID-19.  For those who live in the same house as someone who has COVID-19, they should continue to quarantine until 14 days after the date the person with COVID-19 is told they no longer need to practice isolation.

What is isolation? Similar to quarantine, isolation is recommended for those who are sick with symptoms of COVID-19 and have tested positive or are waiting on the results of a test. As with quarantine, they must remain at home or the place they were told to isolate and avoid contact with other people until their isolation period is over. This includes those in their household as much as possible.

What is physical distancing? Proper physical distancing can avoid multiple staff members needing to quarantine. Staff should avoid congregating together and should maintain at least six (6) feet of distance from other staff who do not work in the same classroom to the extent that is possible. Staff wearing masks will also help limit the risk of transmission to others if they become contagious but do not know it (in that two days before symptoms start or if asymptomatic) but wearing a mask does not replace physical distancing.

1. If a student, faculty, or staff member is symptomatic or receives a positive COVID-19 test, they must immediately notify the school, and isolate according to CDC and DHEC guidelines. Upon confirmation that a student or employee has had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, PG’s nursing staff will immediately contact SCDHEC and follow their directions regarding possible quarantine, contact tracing, communication to families, and facility disinfection.   The isolation period for a positive case will be determined by PG’s nursing staff in consultation with SCDHEC but will not be less than 10 days.  

2. In consultation with DHEC, the School Nurse will perform contact tracing of the positive case. It is critical for students and teachers to be honest and forthcoming regarding any close contacts.  Close contacts are defined as anyone within 6ft for >15 minutes (cumulative time).  Students and teachers must identify any close contacts from PG that may have occurred both on campus and outside of the school setting (ex: Friends riding to school together, extra-curricular activities, any large gatherings outside of school, etc.) 

3. Seating charts for each class will be maintained by all teachers and administration. Once the school is notified of a positive case, any students seated within 6 feet of the confirmed case will be required to quarantine. Any students who may have had close contact exposure during the course of the school day may be required to quarantine (ex: eating lunch, sports, extended day, etc.)

4. All identified close contacts (students, faculty, staff) will be notified and must quarantine for 14 days from the date of last exposure. 

5. Faculty should make every effort to remain >6ft away from all students and co-workers to avoid the need to quarantine. 

6. We will ask parents to self-monitor their child using COVID19 14 day monitoring worksheet.  Parents should notify the school nurse if any symptoms develop or if their child is tested.

7. Per DHEC- A negative test will not allow anyone under quarantine to end quarantine prior to the full 14 days. Everyone must quarantine for the standard 14 days.  

8. Quarantine/Isolation –In the event of a positive test, and positive identified contact, involved parties must comply with quarantine and isolation recommendations as set forth by the school.  This cannot be countered by a family physician.

9. Given the complexity of changing classes in the yellow operating mode, potentially impacted students may need to attend school virtually for one to two days to investigate close contacts of the confirmed case. 

According to the CDC, “direct exposure” is based on 6 feet, 15 minutes, 48 hours rule. 

• 6 feet: Determine who has been within 6 feet of a positive case. 
• 15 minutes: Determine if anyone remained within the proximity of the positive case for 15 minutes or more
• 48 hours: Determine direct exposure for a prolonged period of time during the 48 hours before the positive case exhibited symptoms. 
   

All positive cases must be immediately disclosed to the school nurses at nurse@portergaud.edu so prompt contact tracing and cleaning can be performed.  

All positive individuals must ISOLATE AT HOME for 10 days from the onset of their symptoms of COVID-19 or the date of collection of their positive test if they are asymptomatic. Additionally, all positive individuals must be free of fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications) and overall symptoms must be improved prior to returning to school or school activities.  A subsequent negative COVID-19 test does NOT alter this isolation period.

All positive individuals who feel well enough, may participate in class virtually through our cyclones at home program throughout their isolation period.  If the positive individual participates in sports, they should remain out of sports for at least 14 days from the onset of their symptoms of COVID-19 or the date of collection of their positive test if they are asymptomatic.  After 14 days, we recommend you follow up with your pediatrician for clearance for sports.  

It is likely that COVID-19 will continue to impact our community for the foreseeable future until there is a viable vaccine and therapeutic treatment options. 

We acknowledge that constant hand-washing, wearing face coverings and physical distancing are challenging. However, we implore you to remain vigilant, if not for yourself then for all members of the Porter-Gaud community. 

While the School will do its part in attempting to mitigate exposure during the school day, it is important that our families understand their obligations in ensuring the same when the school day ends. We all have the same goal, to have an in-person experience on campus. We thank you in advance for your assistance in helping our community remain on campus as long as possible. So please, even when you are away from campus, remember to wash your hands frequently, wear a cloth face covering when in public and maintain physical distance.
 

In the event a faculty member needs to quarantine, the faculty member may teach remotely if he/she is able to do so with a supporting in-class substitute on campus. In preparation for these potential interruptions, we have expanded our experienced sub pool. 

If a student or staff member tests positive, they could have been contagious with the virus up to 48 hours before their symptoms began or before their test specimen was collected (for those with no symptoms).

All quarantined students will transition to our remote learning program, Cyclones @ Home. Once the quarantine period ends, they may return to campus if they are symptom free.

Students who present with symptoms of COVID-19 during the school day will be immediately moved to our designated isolation room where they will be evaluated and monitored by a school nurse and required to wait until a parent/guardian arrives to take them home. For the safety of the community, we ask that parents/guardians promptly return any messages left by the school nurse. The student may be asked to remain home for 10 days or longer, depending on symptoms.

Any positive case or close contact exposure that occurs at school or affects the school community will be promptly communicated to the community and/or appropriate individuals. In collaboration with SC DHEC,  we will notify close contacts who need to be excluded from school.

The student(s) of the parent are required to immediately quarantine.  If the student lives in the same household as the parent and has daily close contact, the student will have to quarantine for an additional 14 days after the day their household member has been cleared from isolation.  If the parent is able to completely isolate from the student and other household members, the student will quarantine for 14 days after the date of last exposure.

All students and staff who are considered close contacts of the teacher will be required to quarantine for 14 days from the date of last exposure.  If students, faculty and staff remain more than 6 ft apart and are wearing face coverings, they may not be considered close contacts.

*Due to the potential for close contact among lower school teachers and their students, the homeroom class would quarantine if their homeroom teacher tests positive.

A positive case does not automatically lead to school closure. School closure decisions will be made in consultation with SC DHEC and will be based on multiple factors, including the number of positive cases, the number of cohorts affected, school absenteeism, the level of community spread, as well as potentially other relevant factors. 

If directed by SC DHEC, an initial, temporary closure may occur to allow time for SC DHEC to gain a better understanding of the COVID-19 situation impacting the school. This allows SC DHEC to help the school determine appropriate next steps, including whether an extended dismissal duration is needed to stop or slow the further spread of COVID-19.

Communications will balance transparency and the need to protect the privacy and wellness of individuals who test positive. Here is what you can expect:

• All students and parents of close contacts will be notified via phone call or email immediately.  

• Faculty and staff within the division are notified of the positive case and teachers of the individual and close contacts are notified of the quarantine requirements and shift to Cyclones @ Home. 

• If a student or faculty member in your child's division tests positive, you will be notified even if your child did not have direct exposure to the student. While we cannot provide details or names for privacy reasons, we will inform you of the positive case.  If there was a case in a shared building of campus parents of both divisions may be notified (ex: case in the S & T).

• In a sports team situation, communication will be shared with team coaches, student-athletes, and parents of the team. 

Yes. We publish a weekly dashboard of number of students, faculty, staff in isolation and quarantine at Porter-Gaud and O'Quinn campuses. The dashboard can be found in the parent portal under Resources. 

Siblings are considered contacts of a contact and do not have to quarantine at this time, unless your exposed child is symptomatic. Please keep siblings isolated from your child who has been exposed as much as possible. If any symptoms develop, please keep siblings home from school.

If any household members are exhibiting signs and symptoms of COVID-19 or household member is being tested for COVID-19 due to symptoms, all family members should stay home from school.  If one child is exhibiting symptoms, please keep siblings home as well while you await the results of the COVID test.  If a parent is sick and being tested for COVID please keep children home from school.

All individuals identified as close contacts to someone diagnosed with COVID-19 must quarantine.  Please contact the school nurses at Porter-Gaud at nurse@portergaud.edu or 843-402-4790.

Please email the school nurses at nurse@portergaud.edu and your division heads/deans.

If a student or staff member is a lab confirmed case of COVID-19 by antigen or PCR (nose or throat swab or saliva test), they do not need to quarantine again after close contact to someone with COVID-19 in the first three (3) months after recovering but will for any close contact that happens after that three (3) month period. 

The school must have documentation of the confirmed test to be exempt from quarantine.  If the exposure occurs after those 3 months, the individual must quarantine again.

The presence of antibodies does not necessarily indicate immunity as the antibody level has to meet a certain threshold to provide immunity, and the scientific community isn't sure yet what that threshold is.  You are only exempt from quarantine if you’ve had a lab confirmed case within the previous 3 months.

Evidence shows that most COVID19 transmission occurs off campus.  It can certainly happen on campus as well but behaviors off campus significantly influence COVID19 coming on to our campus.  We strongly advise you to please consider all of the behaviors you and your family are practicing off campus. 

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