State Officials Cut COVID Schools’ Isolation Time

By Bob Bong

Even as schools across the state are facing staff shortages and high student absenteeism brought on by the latest COVID-19 surge, state officials said they would adopt new, shorter quarantine times as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.

Last week, officials with both the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois Department of Health said schools should slash isolation and quarantine times from 10 to five days for students and school employees, who test positive for the virus despite their vaccination status.

Anyone who tests positive must “stay home for a minimum of five days and a maximum of 10 days after the first day of symptoms,” or the date from a positive viral test for those who are asymptomatic, according to the ISBE website.

The rules apply to all public and nonpublic schools that serve students from prekindergarten to 12^th grade.

In addition, students and staff who test positive must “continue to wear a mask around others for five more days after returning to school,” officials said. Individuals may return to school after five days if asymptomatic or “fever-free without fever-reducing medication for 24 hours, diarrhea/vomiting have ceased for 24 hours, and other symptoms have improved.

“Well, I do believe it was important the CDC and IDPH allowed schools to use the five-day isolation,” said Peotone CUSD 207U Supt. Steve Stein. “Since it was being allowed elsewhere, it only made sense. We have seen a large uptick in the number of positive cases and, though we’ve had to make some internal changes to deal with faculty and staff who are out, everyone has been willing to pitch in and make certain the daily routines for kids have not really changed much.  There’s no doubt that cutting the isolation time has been a big help.”   

“I think our organization is pleased to see a reduction in quarantine time for those close contacts who exhibit no symptoms,” said Manteno CUSD 5 Supt. Lisa Harrod. “We respect the seriousness of the pandemic and look forward to and will continue to advocate for local control moving forward.”

Despite the change in isolation time, other safety measures for students and school employees remain in place, including mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, and getting vaccinated.