Some school system leaders say the state’s policy of 14-day quarantines for students who had “close contact” with someone who tested positive for COVID goes too far. Rapides Parish Superintendent Jeff Powell told a House committee they’ve had 227 students test positive out of 22,000, but those cases have resulted in 4,000 students quarantined.
“Each step that you look at under the current quarantining guidelines there is an exponential impact on the number of students who are having to be quarantined and sent home,” said Powell.
“Close contact” is defined by 15 minutes of exposure at less than six feet of distance from a confirmed positive case. Mask usage is not considered under this policy.
Powell said they’ve had five percent of their staff test positive, but due to current rules, every one of those 102 positive cases has resulted in an average of 40 students and staff quarantined.
“We want to follow the science,” said Powell. “Our science shows right now that all of these students who are being quarantined are not testing positive,” said Powell.
The superintendents of West Baton Rouge, Ascension, and Livingston school systems also spoke against the policy.
Bossier City Representative Raymond Crews said the over-zealous policy is detrimental to a student’s long-term education and social health.
“I would argue that your first priority is their education. Now safety is in there but that is not your first priority, it is to educate these kids and how can you do that when they can’t come to school?” asked Crews.
A Louisiana Department of Health statement noted LDH is not recommending any changes to policy at this time, particularly when the state is seeing a third major wave of cases.
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