• We welcome your questions and feedback at any time via APS Let’s Talk
• It can be accessed by clicking the “Contact Us” tab on the APS homepage at atlantapublicschools.us 
• We will add to our FAQs based on your questions.

• All students must have a consent form on file before participating in APS Surveillance Testing. Please use this link to enroll your student https://studentapp.viralsolutionsga.com/consent

• The benefits of surveillance testing include allowing APS to test, receive test results (within 24 hours), and notify individuals of a clinically significant reading before coming to school or work.
• This rapid test detects the presence of COVID-19 even in individuals who may be asymptomatic. 
• Implementing comprehensive testing strategies is one way we continue to minimize any exposure to COVID-19 in our schools.

APS and Viral Solutions have designed the COVID Surveillance Testing Healthier Schools Program to help keep kids, families, and teachers safer from COVID outbreaks. The e-consent form is now available and only needs to be completed once to allow testing for the school year. Access the consent form here: http://tinyURL.com/HealthyAPS

Surveillance testing is offered on a weekly basis at our APS schools for APS students and employees.

Click here for the most up-to-date Surveillance Testing schedule: APS Fall 2022 COVID-19 Surveillance Testing Schedule

• While we do not require testing for students, we strongly encourage all parents to provide consent for their child or children to be tested. 
• When students are tested, it helps everyone in our learning environment to be protected together.
• Students and staff can now complete their COVID-19 surveillance test consent form online at http://tinyURL.com/HealthyAPS

• Viral Solutions partners with APS to operate a community PCR surveillance testing site at Frederick Douglass High School, located at 225 Hamilton E Holmes Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30318. 
• This site offers a PCR COVID-19 test at no charge. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• No appointment is required. Staff, students, families of APS students, and community members may receive testing at this site.

• Testing is available on a weekly basis for all students with parental consent.

• They will need to stay home and isolate until their symptoms resolve or they meet their isolation period (depending on their situation). 

• Please follow DPH guidance under - What should I do if I am a close contact to someone with COVID-19 and get sick? https://dph.georgia.gov/contact 

• APS is enrolled in the Georgia’s ELC Reopening Schools program. This program is designed to support safe, in-person instruction in kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools.
• The program is funded through a grant from the CDC and administered by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide free COVID-19 testing to K-12 schools.
• For more information, please visit: https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-k12-testing

• Students exposed to a COVID-19 case no longer need to quarantine if they remain without symptoms.
• If they develop symptoms after exposure, they should stay home and follow isolation guidelines.
• Please reference our Case Isolation + Close Contact Guidelines for more information.

Close Contact through Proximity and Duration of Exposure: Someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). 

An infected person can spread SARS-CoV-2 starting from 2 days before they have any symptoms (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days before the positive specimen collection date), until they meet criteria for discontinuing home isolation. 

• Case investigation and case management will be conducted by the assigned school or district nurse in collaboration with Health Services and Fulton County Board of Health. Contact tracing will no longer be conducted for each case; however, investigators will continue to monitor for any additional cases (or symptomatic individuals).

• Parents will receive a notification letter from the school indicating that a positive COVID-19 case was identified in their student’s class. This letter does not mean your student was a close contact. Students notified of an exposure do not need to stay home if they remain without symptoms.
• If a cluster of COVID-19 cases is identified, the school will communicate additional prevention strategies to the parents. This may include recommendations for masking, COVID-19 testing, or pausing certain school activities to prevent additional transmission.

According to DPH, “A COVID-19 cluster is defined as 4 or more students or staff (at least 1 must be positive via viral test) with symptom onset or specimen collection dates within a 7-day period who do not share a household, do not have another more likely source of exposure, and are epidemiologically linked in the school setting or school-sanctioned extracurricular activity”.

If a cluster is confirmed, APS will work with local public health officials to identify additional prevention strategies. This may include recommending masking in the classroom or school-related activities, recommending COVID-19 testing, or temporarily pausing school activities to give ample time for cleaning.

No, they cannot attend in-person instruction or work. They should be isolated per CDC guidelines.

• Once a case has been identified, parents are contacted within the same day if possible (not to exceed a period of 24 hours) to inform them of potential exposures.
• Written communication is sent per our procedures for notification that include the date of exposure and public health resources.
• If a cluster of COVID-19 cases is identified, the school will communicate additional prevention strategies to the parents via written communication.

• COVID 19-vaccines are effective. They decrease the chances of getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19. Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
• Fully vaccinated students may remain in school and staff may remain at work to avoid interruptions to in-person education or workflow, even if they are exposed to someone with COVID-19, so long as they remain without symptoms.

For hours and locations for vaccination sites and mobile units, or to download the parent consent form for minor patients, visit www.fultoncountyga.gov/covidvaccine. 

• Individuals who test positive for COVID OR who are exposed to a confirmed case should complete one of the links below for self-reporting:
• Student self-report form: http://tinyAPS.com/?CovidStudentForm
• Staff self-report form: http://tinyAPS.com/?CovidStaffForm

• COVID Cases are tracked through collaborative efforts with School Nurses, Health Services, and Data Information Group to collect and report data.
• COVID-19 related questions or concerns should be emailed to: Covidreports@atlanta.k12.ga.us

Case investigation and case management will be conducted by the assigned school or district nurse in collaboration with Health Services and Fulton County Board of Health who conduct actual contact tracing.

• People who have been exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 and remain without symptoms should test 5 full days after last exposure.
• People who develop symptoms after an exposure should be tested immediately.

• APS offers surveillance testing throughout the district at school locations and district offices.
• COVID-19 tests are offered at private health care providers.
• COVID-19 tests are available at Specimen Points of Collection sites in collaboration with the Department of Public Health. An appointment can be made through the DPH website at https://dph.georgia.gov/covidtesting

A long-term substitute or building-level designee will be assigned to deliver instruction virtually.

• Teachers will place current academic work in an electronic repository (Google Classroom) and a teacher/tutor will provide after school tutoring for students absent during the quarantine period. Designated virtual teachers/tutors and number of tutorial sessions will be determined by school-level administration based on need.
• A virtual learning tutorial schedule will be developed by the school and implemented over the course of the quarantine period.

• A long-term substitute or building-level designee will be assigned to the teacher’s classroom.
• Current substitute teacher plans will be used during the quarantine period for students affected.

The entire school will pivot to virtual learning.

APS encourages all students, families, and employees to continue to review and follow the most recent travel guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control (Domestic Travel During COVID-19 | CDC).

All schools received a shipment of PPE in mid-November. We are not aware of any PPE shortages at any school currently. We have instructed principals that, if they have an immediate need for additional PPE, they should order supplies using the normal in-school ordering process. Teachers should receive PPE from their school and should not have need to include these supplies on Donors Choose and classroom wish lists.