This story was written by Katie Cherry , a student at Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester, for the Underground Workshop, VTDigger’s new platform for student journalism.
Photo courtesy of Lexi Lacoste.
With just a tap of a Zoom link and some clicks of her trumpet case, Lexi Lacoste was ready for another day of virtual band. Even though her friends were in a different cohort, they still kept her updated with all the happenings while she was online.
All seemed normal until a single ding from her phone flipped her day on its head. An Instagram notification from her friend flashed upon the screen.
“I guess I’m going to be online for a second day of band,” the message read. “I went to the nurse’s office with a headache and they sent me home.”
While the Burr & Burton Academy community has been closely following the guidelines they produced in collaboration with the state, one issue remains unresolved: Where should the line should be drawn when it comes to sending kids with Covid-like symptoms home?
Lacoste has had two friends sent home for a headache and said that even though she wouldn’t want to be the one calling the shots, she still finds the protocol “disheartening.”
One friend had planned on meeting with teachers that day, but instead ended up stuck in the nurse’s office with no ride home. Lacoste said students have been telling each other not to go to the nurse’s office if they have headaches so they won’t be sent home.
“While they understood, they were put off,” Lacoste said.
Associate Head of School Meg Kenny described the step-by-step procedure when a student has a symptom while at school: When a student feels unwell, they should go to the nurse to be assessed. If the student has symptoms of Covid-19, they will be placed in an isolation room until a parent or guardian can come pick the student up. The family will then consult with their doctors to see if they recommend a Covid-19 test.
“Until things change, that’s going to be the way we operate school for now,” Kenny said, “and I’m grateful for how well everybody is embracing it.”
Megan Beattie-Cassan is the BBA school nurse. “We have had approximately 250 visits to the health center [up to Nov. 9]. Only 30 of those visits resulted in a student going home based on Covid-like symptoms,” she said. “I believe that the at-home health screening is helping to keep students home in the morning when they are not feeling well.”
Compared to the same date range from last year, 58 students were sent home for not feeling well.
About nine weeks into the school year, the school Health Center had 12 students sent home with headaches and no other symptoms, and five students sent home with headaches and at least one other symptom (nausea, congestion, or stomachache). One student was sent home with a slight fever (less than 100.4); two students have been sent home with sore throat only; three students have been sent home with a sore throat and at least one other symptom (pain or fatigue or cough/cold-like symptoms); six students have been sent home with gastrointestinal upset with a combination of nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea; and one student went home with fatigue .
If a student has a symptom but knows the cause of it, he or she can just notify Beattie-Cassan. Students who have failed the health check in the morning are able to come to school just by explaining their specific situation.
Beattie-Cassan said that “if a student has a history of migraines, allergies, asthma, etc., they do not have to come see me (unless they need something to relieve the symptom), nor [do] they have to go home.” However, documentation from their doctor is needed to prove that they have different diagnoses.
Meg Kenny said they sometimes override the system “or [the nurse] will say, ‘Just don’t check that button for a period of time so you can come in,’ but once we’re through the seasonal allergy period, then that subsides.”
Lexi Lacoste realizes that the top priority is making sure everyone is safe and that preventing a Covid outbreak is worth the inconvenience. It’s new territory we’re treading in and communication is key. Lacoste and her friends were unaware of the exact procedure.
Answering the morning screening questions in an honest manner is another precaution that really helps. “Students think they will have to have a Covid test if they just have a headache or just have a sore throat,” Beattie-Cassan said. “This is not the case.”
