These guidelines, for the most part, are best practice for any sickness or illness that is contagious and will help to keep our community safe. It is the responsibility of HLT Leadership to notify our staff and families of an outbreak of positive cases of highly contagious viruses such as Covid or Influenza and the exposure risk within our population. Our policy is based on symptoms and positive cases and not on exposure. We will no longer count days and keep students with no symptoms out of the classroom. It is the parents’ responsibility to decide if their student’s attendance poses a risk to the student body due to symptoms, exposure and/or close contact to a positive case. It is also the parents’ decision to keep their student home and away from any possible exposure due to this policy. We understand that all policies and decisions may not be in line with a family’s concerns or convictions. We, therefore, 100% respect families’ freedoms to make personal decisions for their family providing they are also taking into consideration other families and students within our program. Q. What if my student has been exposed? A. If your student has not exhibited any symptoms, they can attend classes as normal. Continue to monitor for symptoms at home (parents) and in the classroom (teachers). We will ask that any student that begins to exhibit any symptoms in the classroom be picked up from campus as soon as possible. If symptoms begin at home, refer to the section below. Q. What if my student is sick? A. If your student has any symptoms which could be related to Covid or the Flu such as sore throat, cough, congestion, and/or body aches, please keep your student home. The student may return to class after 5 days from the start of symptoms (basically the next week of class) providing the student is 24 hours fever free with improving symptoms.
If fever is the only symptom but your student has been exposed, student may return to class after 48 hours fever free and no symptoms. If other symptoms begin, refer to the section above.
If your student has symptoms, other than sore throat, cough, congestion, and body aches, that subside within 24 hours and the student is 24 hours fever free, the student may return to class. Q. What if my student has Covid/Flu? A. If your student has been exposed and has symptoms that you assume are Covid/Flu or has tested positive for Covid/Flu, please notify HLT and any other families/students that your student has been in contact with immediately. The student may return to class after 5 days from the start of symptoms (basically the next week of class) providing the student is 24 hours fever free with improving symptoms. Q. What about siblings? A. If you have multiple students in our program, we recommend isolating any positive cases in your home to minimize risk if you want your other students to continue to attend. Since our policy is based on symptoms rather than exposure, and because we cannot monitor family situations and guidelines based on antibodies, recent recovery, vaccination status, or other unknown factors, siblings who do not have symptoms can attend class based on our policy above. It is the parents’ responsibility to decide if their student’s attendance poses a risk to the student body due to exposure and close contact to a positive case in your home. Q. What about allergies or other symptoms which are normal for your students? A. We realize that many students may suffer from allergies which can result in symptoms that can be confused with sickness. We ask that students that have had known exposure take extra consideration and precautions. We recommend keeping your student home for up to 48 hours to see if symptoms worsen if they have been exposed to someone who is sick. Keep in mind that teachers will be monitoring for symptoms in the classroom as well especially if there has been exposure. If symptoms worsen, you will be asked to pick up your student as soon as possible. It is the parents’ responsibility to decide if their student’s attendance poses a risk to the student body due to exposure and close contact to a positive case in your home. Please be considerate of the other students and families that attend HLT and follow these guidelines as closely as possible and with the heart and intention that is behind them. We trust each family and student to take the necessary precautions. Our staff and leadership can only do so much to prevent the spread of sickness through our policies. Taking symptoms and exposure into consideration when making daily decisions about your student can help keep our doors open and our student body healthy. Our goal is to keep students in the classroom and provide policies that are reasonable, attainable, and are comfortable for all parents and students that are part of our program, but we can’t do it alone. It will take each family and student to take symptoms seriously as well as necessary precautions when there are positive cases or exposure. We must be considerate to put everyone’s health and wellbeing first.