The Fayette school district will stop contract tracing for students and staff who test positive for COVID-19. The district’s Board of Education unanimously approved the change during its regular meeting on Wednesday, February 16.

The reason for the change is based on a steep decline in positive cases. The last published report on the district’s website was on February 22 and showed zero positive cases among staff and students.

“This is based on the Howard County Health Department no longer conducting contract tracing,” Superintendent Jill Wiseman explained to the board. She said now is an appropriate time to pause contract tracing. However, the district can begin again if cases increase. The decision was made with the support of school nurse Kelly Beeler.

“It’s been a bad month to six weeks, but this last week was markedly better,” Beeler told the board. “I didn’t have any positives. The two weeks prior to that I had one or two (positive cases). So it really has sharply declined.”

Beeler said that the amount of time spent on contract tracing is no longer beneficial the way it had been during early periods of the pandemic.

“I’m really excited about that. I hope that trend continues,” Beeler said. 

The pause in contract tracing is not a total abandonment of the district’s COVID-19 protocols. In December, the board voted to relax some rules regarding students and staff who test positive to reflect current suggestions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Anyone who tests positive must still stay away from school for five days, and may only return on the sixth day if they remain fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication, and symptoms show improvement. They will have to wear a mask for an additional five days when around others. Anyone who cannot wear a mask must stay home for 10 days.

The district asks parents to closet monitor students for symptoms of COVID-19.