Covid-19 Response Strategies

COVID-19 Safety for Outdoor Schools

PLEASE NOTE: The following information and protocols apply to those outdoor school sites partnering with Health Commons for pre-arrival testing, on-site testing, and daily health monitoring of all outdoor school participants. NOT ALL SITES ARE HEALTH COMMONS PARTNERS. Please contact your selected site to determine its status and/or its COVID-19 protocols.

To maintain the health and safety of overnight outdoor school programs this year, the Washington Governor’s Office and Department of Health have developed COVID-19 testing guidance which will allow outdoor schools to operate.

 Per guidance, all students and staff must:

• be fully vaccinated; or,

• receive a negative COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours prior to outdoor school site arrival and remain in quarantine between the test and start of outdoor school; or,

• receive a negative rapid antigen test onsite at school before getting onto the bus on travel day to the outdoor school site.

Before attending outdoor school, participants must meet one of the three criteria listed above. We will collect proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival at outdoor school. For students and other participants, parent/guardian or personal attestation is not an acceptable form of verification.

 If participants are not fully vaccinated or do not receive a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of outdoor school start, we will have rapid antigen testing available onsite. The test is an observed self-collected shallow nasal swab, which the individual inserts less than one inch into the nostril. Individuals will receive results from the test in 15 minutes. Our site staff have been trained to observe the specimen collection and results of the test.

 Anyone who tests positive will not attend outdoor school and will be sent home to isolate. If someone displays COVID-19 symptoms, they cannot attend outdoor school even if they have a negative COVID-19 test. People identified as close contacts who are not fully vaccinated must quarantine per local guidance and cannot attend outdoor school, even if they are asymptomatic or have a negative COVID-19 test. Close contacts who are fully vaccinated and do not have symptoms do not need to quarantine but will be tested 3-5 days following a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and wear a mask in all public indoor spaces for 14 days or until they receive a negative test result.

Sites will also have rapid antigen testing supplies to use if someone develops symptoms while at outdoor school. For this reason, they will be collecting rapid antigen testing consent forms from all attendees, regardless of vaccination status. These consent forms will be provided by sites to participating schools.

Outdoor schools are an incredibly valuable educational experience for our students. We are excited to offer rapid antigen testing as one extra layer of prevention to help sites operate safely.