Some Louisiana parents will soon have the option to decide whether to send their child back to school or keep them at home following a suspected COVID-19 exposure.
The decision comes at a time when other states are pursuing or have adopted similar policies in an effort to keep more students in the classroom.
“We can no longer ignore the unintended academic consequences of our students unnecessarily missing school,” State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a statement Wednesday. “This new, common-sense option empowers parents and local communities with the authority to make health-related decisions for their students.”
Quarantines have been widespread since the school year began, and some of the state’s larger systems have reported several thousand quarantine cases each week. Under Louisiana’s current quarantine standards, a student identified as a “close contact” could be required to quarantine for a few days or even weeks.
Brumley said individual districts can now make available a “parent choice option,” which allows families to decide whether to keep their child at home or continue sending them to school. As part of the policy, parents will also have access to no-cost COVID testing, though participation is voluntary.
“The parent choice option in no way alters the process school systems use to handle a student that tests positive for COVID,” a press release said. “If a student develops symptoms of the virus or tests positive, the student should isolate until they have recovered and are determined to no longer be infectious.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already said that as long as students wear masks in the classroom, they do not need to quarantine when identified as a close contact.
But not all Louisiana leaders were on board with Wednesday's announcement. Gov. John Bel Edwards and the state's health officer Dr. Joe Kanter both opposed the new policy, according to The Advocate.
State Health Officer Dr. Joseph Kanter blasts new policy to allow public school students who come into close contact with COVID-19 case to remain in school. “I think this is a bad call. I think it is dangerous. I think it is going to put kids at risk.”#laed
— Will Sentell (@WillSentell) September 29, 2021
Kanter told The Advocate that the new policy was a "bad call," "dangerous" and "is going to put kids at risk."
Leaders with New Orleans Public Schools, a district that has used quarantines to prevent further spread of COVID-19, also pushed back on the new guidance in an emailed statement.
Masks are mandatory in Louisiana public schools, and Gov. John Bel Edwards recently extended his indoor mask mandate until the end of October.
While COVID cases and hospitalizations have trended downward in recent weeks, health officials have warned that transmission rates remain high across the state.
On Wednesday, the Louisiana Department of Health reported 1,048 COVID-19 cases. Thirty of the new cases were reported by children 17 years of age or younger.
Across the state’s 69 parish school districts, COVID policies vary widely and it's unclear whether the majority of districts will institute the new “parent choice option.”
Some school and local leaders have publicly pushed back on the mask mandate, and few systems have opted into the state’s school-based surveillance testing initiative. Before the storm, just 10 of the state’s 64 parishes had agreed to test students for COVID regularly.
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