[MsFancyNancy]

I have a student (I’ll call him B) who has a sibling that was recently near another student who tested positive for the corona virus. B’s mom called me and said she had been informed by their pediatrician to quarantine B and his siblings for 14 days. B’s mom felt it wasn’t necessary to quarantine him because he is special needs and she says due to his condition he is rarely near his other siblings. I asked the director of my department if it was okay for B to come to school anyway and he said no, mom must quarantine him since he lives in the same household as the sibling who was exposed, which is also what she was told by the pediatrician. However, after speaking with our school nurse mom was told it was okay to bring B to school. B does not wear a mask due to his condition and due to the nature of our work environment we sometimes don’t have on masks either (they get removed by students). The pediatrician had also instructed mom to monitor B (who is considered high risk) for 3 days to see if he exhibits symptoms. The parent and our school nurse have seemed to defy the pediatricians order.

Is this acceptable?

Plus, should the staff who have had contact with B been told to quarantine and watch for symptoms of corona as well?

I’m told this parent is very litigious and often gets her way just to avoid dealing with her issues . I’m just wondering if the school is doing the right thing or just appeasing the parent? I feel like no one cares about the health of the teachers and staff involved.

[Haley23]

They change the rules constantly, but under our current guidelines B would not be required to quarantine and certainly none of the teachers/students who just had contact with B. I explain it as "we're not playing six degrees of separation." So, just because you've had contact with someone who is quarantined as a precaution, that doesn't mean you need to quarantine too. If we quarantined everyone who had contact with someone who is quarantined, and all of the people that had contact with all of those "secondary quarantined" people, and all of the people who had contact with them, we'd all never be at school.

Now, if B's sibling actually gets sick, then B would be required to quarantine. You would still not be, unless B himself actually gets sick too. If you're not sure of what the rules are for your district, I'd ask your union if you have one. If not, ask some fellow teachers, and if they are also unclear on the guidelines, then ask admin or HR. As an information seeking question, not as an "accusatory" question. You should have been given clear directions about who is quarantined for various situations.

[GraceKrispy]

If this parent is litigious, everything really comes down to what the already established policy is in your school district and whether that policy violates what is in place at the state level. It comes down to that anyway, but when you're talking about legal action whatever is already in place as a policy really matters.

[Munchkins]

In my school, only the child who was in direct contact with the positive case would be quarantined and his sibling would not. Like Haley said, your student would only be excluded if his sibling comes down with it.

Stay safe. Sending good thoughts and prayers your way for your well being.

[KetchupChips]

See if you can get guidelines in written form. If mom wants to sue, there has to be a legitimate reason. Don’t overly worry about it. Everyone is figuring this out.

From now on, get everything in writing. If you have a verbal conversation, send an email that summarizes what was said. If you have a union rep, I’d loop them in. Maybe send them a copy.

It’s so difficult to know what we’re suppose to do.