Marin County Public Health continues to work in close partnership with Marin County Office of Education and leaders of our public, private, parochial and independent schools to prepare for and facilitate the eventual reopening of K-12 schools for in-person instruction. Visit our Schools Page for more information.
Visit our School Status Dashboard that tracks the reopening status of schools in Marin County. Icons on the map represent elementary, middle, and high schools, including public, private, independent, and parochial schools.
- Green icons represent schools that have reopened to in-person instruction (at least 10% of a school's enrollment has returned to in-person instruction)
- Grey icons represent schools that offer remote/virtual learning only.
Every school has been required to complete a School Site-Specific Protection Plan (SSSPP) and have it reviewed by Marin Public Health prior to reopening. The individual SSSPP is informed by the Marin County Public Health Guided Return to Site-Based Classroom Instruction, which includes a 30-point plan to facilitate the return to site-based instruction classroom instruction. Each completed SSSPP is available online for public viewing.
Every school must establish a multi-disciplinary task force (i.e., teachers, custodians, school secretaries, para-educators, parents, students, and administrators) to develop and support a School Site-Specific Protection Plan. The task force meets regularly to monitor Public Health Information and adjust the plan based on input from all stakeholders as needed.
School staff must be trained in all SSSPP protocols before in-person instruction may resume. This training includes oversight from Marin Public Health. Additionally, it must be distributed to staff and families, and posted on each school’s website. A copy may also be posted on the school campus or office at a visible location, at or near the main entrance where students, staff and visitors can easily review it without touching the document, or post a Certificate of Completion with information on how to review the plan in its entirety online.
Signs must be posted at each of the primary staff and student entrances to inform all students, staff and visitors:
- If you have COVID-19 symptoms, do not enter the facility;
- Maintain a minimum six-foot distance from one another;
- Sneeze and cough into a cloth or tissue or, if not available, into one’s elbow;
- Wear face coverings, as appropriate; and
- Do not shake hands or engage in any unnecessary physical contact.
For more details on public health requirements for schools, please review Marin County Public Health School Guidelines and CDPH's COVID-19 Industry Guidance for Schools and School-Based Programs.
Yes, all schools – public, private, parochial, and independent – must complete the School Site Specific Protection Plan (SSSPP), have it reviewed by Public Health, and train staff in all protocols prior to being allowed to reopen for in-person instruction.
Cold, influenza and COVID-19 symptoms can be similar. Regardless, keeping the child home that is showing symptoms is a good way to reduce the spread of colds and flu within schools. The Parent Handbook** is a useful tool to reference for any questions.
As for others in your household, if your child is showing symptoms, it is important to evaluate your child’s symptoms and possible exposures to COVID-19 when deciding whether other children in your household should stay home. Marin Public Health has developed a decision tree to guide parents, based on whether the child has a fever or if the child was exposed to someone with COVID-19.
**Spanish available soon**
If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, the following things should occur:
- Information is reported to school administration.
- The person either stays home or will be sent home to isolate per Public Health Guidance.
- Families and household members of the student/staff are quarantined and should pursue testing through their health care provider, local community clinic, or Marin Public Health.
- Student families and Staff of the affected cohort are notified by either a phone call or letter.
- The respective student/staff member’s classroom is closed for 14 days from the last known exposure. However, the rest of the school remains OPEN.
For more detailed information, visit https://bit.ly/ExposureProtocols and review the Student & Family Handbook on COVID-19 safety.
Students and staff should NOT come to school:
- If your child / children have any of the key symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, shortness of breath / difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell). They must schedule COVID-19 testing and/or visit with a healthcare provider.
- Siblings and other household contacts must stay home until a negative COVID-19 test is confirmed or a healthcare provider gives an alternate diagnosis (e.g., migraine, strep throat).
- The sick person may return to school after they test negative for COVID-19 (with copy of a negative test) or after being evaluated by a healthcare provider and given an alternate diagnosis (with clearance from the healthcare provider to return to school);
- if the sick person’s symptoms have improved AND the person is fever-free for > 24 hours w/o fever reducing medications.
- If the sick person is not tested or evaluated by a healthcare provider, they must stay at home and isolate for at least 10 days (Test or 10).
- If your child / children have two or more of the following symptoms (fever [100.4°F/38°C or greater] or chills • sore throat • headache • nausea or vomiting • diarrhea • fatigue • congestion / runny nose), they must schedule COVID-19 testing and/or visit with a healthcare provider.
- Siblings and other household contacts must stay home until a negative COVID-19 test is confirmed or a healthcare provider provides an alternate diagnosis (e.g., migraine, strep throat).
- The sick person may return to school after they test negative for COVID-19 (with copy of a negative test) or after being evaluated by a healthcare provider and given an alternate diagnosis (with clearance from healthcare provider to return to school);
- if symptoms improved AND fever-free for > 24 hours w/o fever reducing medications.
- If the sick person is not tested or evaluated by a healthcare provider, they must stay at home and isolate for at least 10 days (Test or 10).
- If your child / children has any one of the following symptoms (fever [100.4°F/38°C or greater] or chills • sore throat • headache • nausea or vomiting • diarrhea • fatigue • congestion / runny nose), they may return to school after symptoms improved and fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.
- Siblings and other household contacts do not need to stay home. COVID-19 testing and/or healthcare provider evaluation are not necessary unless required by a school nurse who suspects COVID-19.
- If a household member (incl. caregiver) has any of the more common symptoms of COVID-19 or two or more of the COVID-19 symptoms listed above
- They should contact their healthcare provider or schedule testing immediately.
- Students and staff must stay home until their household member tests negative for COVID-19.
- If the household member tests positive for COVID-19, your family must quarantine for 10 days from their last contact.
- If they had close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 (e.g., relative, friend). If your child has had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID19, they must stay at home and quarantine for 10 days after their last contact with the person who has COVID-19.
- Students with known underlying health conditions may be at increased risk of severe illness. These health conditions may include diabetes (Types I and II), immune system deficiencies, or chronic respiratory conditions. If your child has a chronic health condition, please consult with your child’s healthcare provider to determine if/when it is safe to attend school.
Any student or staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19 or who has been exposed to COVID-19 must stay home from school and follow Marin County Public Health’s At Home Quarantine & Isolation Safety Guidance. Parents / guardians must notify the school immediately if their child or household member tests positive for COVID-19 or if a household member may have been exposed to COVID-19. This information will be kept confidential.
Isolation and quarantine are public health practices used to protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease.
- Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.
- Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick. These people may have been exposed to a disease and do not know it, or they may have the disease but do not show symptoms.
If you test positive for COVID-19, you must isolate according to Marin Public Health’s At home Quarantine & Isolation Safety (English) (Spanish). You should stay home and away from others during the duration of your isolation: do not go to school or work and do not run errands. Leave only if you have a medical emergency.
If you have been in “Close Contact” with people who have tested positive for COVID-19, you must quarantine according to Marin Public Health’s At home Quarantine & Isolation Safety (English) (Spanish). Your quarantine period lasts 10 days from when you were last in contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19. Like isolation, you should stay home and away from others during quarantine: do not go to school or work and do not run errands. Leave only if you have a medical emergency.
“Close Contact” means:
- any household member
- individuals that have shared a home within 10 days of a person's COVID-19 diagnosis
- intimate partners
- caregivers
- someone who was within six feet of an infected person for 15 minutes or longer.
If you have tested for COVID-19 you must stay at home while waiting for results.
Each person on campus, whether student, staff, administrative, maintenance, etc, is required to wear a face covering.
A “Face Covering” means a covering made of cloth, fabric, or other soft or permeable material, without holes, that covers only the nose and mouth and surrounding areas of the lower face. Face coverings should have two layers of fabric, but it does not need to be a medical-grade mask.
Face shields are acceptable when used with a face covering underneath OR the face covering includes a facial drape, such as the Humanity Shield.
Any mask that incorporates a one-way valve (typically a raised plastic cylinder about the size of a quarter on the front or side of the mask) that is designed to facilitate easy exhaling is not an acceptable face covering under Marin County’s and the State of California’s face covering order. A mask with a valve should not be used to comply with the Order’s requirements. Valves of that type permit droplet release from the mask, putting others nearby at risk.
Schools may visit the CDC's office buildings guidance page for information on how to make the school environment safe for faculty and students.
Visit the CDC COVID-19 information for tips on how to talk to children and teens about COVID-19.
We consistently find temperature screening at school is unreliable. It also creates congregating potential and decreases physical distancing.
Available scientific literature has identified that effectiveness can be limited by several factors, including:
- External conditions (heat, sweat);
- Infections without a fever;
- Use of fever-reducing drugs;
- Other infections or conditions that may cause elevated temperatures;
- Devices failing to identify elevated temperatures, or misreading normal temperatures as elevated;
- Failure to follow the manufacturer's instructions for use, such as for set-up, operation, and training.
Resources
Therefore, Marin County Public Health does not recommend temperature screening. On the other hand, we strongly recommend regular hand hygiene, face covering, physical distancing, and decreasing risk (e.g., optimizing time outdoors and not mixing households). The majority of cases of COVID-19 transmission in Marin have occurred in households, not in structured environments (e.g., offices, schools) that implement site specific protection plans.
Follow the guidance of your doctor which may be specific to your individual health needs. In general, if you have symptoms, stay at home until you are fever free for at least 24 hours (without the aid of fever reducing medication) and 10 days after your symptoms have resolved.
**This guidance is for school staff and students, general population would need to be fever free for 24 hours and have improving symptoms**
Yes, so long as you abide by all social distancing requirements and maintain a minimum distance of six feet between individuals or groups of individuals from different households at all times. Face coverings must be worn as required by the State Order for Face Coverings. Water fountains, benches and other high-touch areas within dog parks remain off limits. Individuals accessing dog parks should plan to bring along sufficient water for themselves and their dogs to the park. Individuals accessing dog parks should minimize contact with gates and handles, and should bring along protective gear such as gloves and/or hand sanitizer as appropriate.
Also note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidance advising that you treat pets as you would your human family members – you must therefore limit your interactions with dogs outside of your household. If a person inside your household becomes sick, isolate that person from everyone else, including pets.
Check in with your loved ones often. Virtual communication can help you and your loved ones feel less lonely and isolated. Consider connecting with loved ones by:
- Telephone
- Mailing letters or cards
- Text messages
- Video chat
- Social media
Visit the CDC for more information on what you can do.