Covid-19 Policies & Procedures

Vaccination is currently the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination among eligible individuals can help Early Care and Education (ECE) programs protect staff and children in their care, as well as their families. This guidance emphasizes implementing layered COVID-19 prevention strategies (e.g., using multiple prevention strategies together) to protect children and adults who are not fully vaccinated.

 

COVID-19 prevention strategies remain critical to protect people, including children and staff, who are not fully vaccinated, especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels. Therefore, the following is required:

 

Masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (ages 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated at the discretion of the center director. ECE settings may implement universal mask use in some situations, such as if they serve a population not yet eligible for vaccination or if they have increasing, substantial, or high COVID-19 transmission in their ECE program or community.

 

Localities should monitor community transmission, vaccination coverage, the occurrence of outbreaks, and local policies and regulations to guide decisions on the use of layered prevention strategies. The primary factors to consider include:

• Level of community transmission of COVID-19.

• COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the community and among children and staff.

• COVID-19 outbreaks or increasing trends in the ECE program, or surrounding community.

• Ages of children served by ECE programs and the associated social and behavioral factors that may affect risk of transmission and the feasibility of different prevention strategies.

Our Prevention Strategies:

• Promoting vaccination

• Consistent and correct mask use when directed

• Physical distancing and learning center transitions

• Ventilation

• Hand washing and respiratory etiquette

• Staying home when sick and getting tested

• Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine

• Cleaning and disinfecting

 

These COVID-19 prevention strategies remain critical to protect people, including children and ECE staff, who are not fully vaccinated, especially in areas of moderate-to-high community transmission levels. When considering whether and how to remove prevention strategies, one prevention strategy should be removed at a time, and children and staff should be closely monitored (with adequate testing through the community) for any outbreaks or increases in COVID-19 cases. This policy will be updated according to CDC guidelines. We are required to follow all state and federal COVID-19 Guidelines.