This back-to-school season is like no other as schools reflect transmission rates in communities.  We remain committed to keeping our community informed of positive COVID cases impacting schools and district facilities, while protecting the privacy of individuals. 

The Puyallup School District follows quarantine protocols established by the DOH and communicates a return-to-school date based off this guidance.  When we are notified of a positive COVID case, our health room staff works with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) to determine exposure risk to other staff and students so contact tracing can immediately be conducted.  Based on the guidance provided by TPCHD, notifications are sent to impacted staff, students and families.

When an entire classroom is quarantined, elementary students share the same return-to-school date; return to school dates for secondary students may vary dependent on vaccination status and symptoms.  Our goal is to avoid a disruption to learning when students and classrooms are in quarantine.  Remote options are readily available, dependent on what works best for individual families, students and classrooms.  

It’s critical that multiple mitigation strategies outlined in our Health and Safety Playbook are followed so that we can continue to offer full-time in-person instruction to all students.