Media Alert: COVID-19 Testing for Return to School and NOLA-PS to Host Media Availability to Discuss Updated COVID-19 Guidance as Classes Resume After Winter Break

WHAT:

COVID-19 testing for students and staff preparing to return to school will take place today at L.B. Landry High School today, and NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) will discuss updated COVID-19 precautions and guidance for students, families and staff. Opportunity for media to take photos and collect B-roll of testing program.

WHEN:

Monday, January 3

2 p.m. for TV stations to collect B-roll of COVID-19 testing

2:45 p.m. to discuss updates with NOLA-PS staff

WHERE:

L.B. Landry High School: 1200 L B Landry Ave, New Orleans, LA 70114

WHO:

-Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., NOLA-PS Superintendent

-Tiffany Delcour, NOLA-PS Chief of Operations

WHY:

As our school community welcomes students back to class this week after the winter break, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) has updated its recommendations and guidance for COVID-19 in light of the Omicron variant surge in New Orleans.

All students and staff are encouraged to take a COVID-19 test as soon as possible this week to help track and prevent any community spread in schools. The Louisiana Department of Health and the City of New Orleans are providing community testing sites, and schools are providing on-campus testing opportunities to assist families with this effort.

NOLA-PS is also requiring all eligible students (5 and older) be vaccinated by Feb. 1 to minimize quarantines and disruptions to their classroom time and their families' daily lives.

Please contact your school or visit www.nolapublicschools.com/vaccinations for www.ready.nola.gov for details on testing and vaccination sites.

To keep our school community safe during the surge of the Omicron variant, NOLA-PS is recommending the following changes to its COVID-19 guidance:

• Schools have been instructed to limit extracurricular activities as much as possible for the foreseeable future. Where that is not possible, activities should occur outdoors with proper social distancing and mask-wearing.
• During sporting events, spectators should be prohibited or limited to team members' families.
• Schools should restrict students from congregational settings, such as cafeterias and assembly spaces.
• Social distancing should be extended to 6 feet whenever possible.
• Masks are to be worn at all times on school grounds, indoors and outdoors.
• If a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they are to self-isolate for 10 days and get tested before returning to school.
• If an unvaccinated student or staff member is a close contact to a positive test case, they should quarantine for at least 5 days, per the CDC's latest recommendation, and get tested before returning to school. Vaccinated students or staff members who are close contacts should wear masks at all times for 10 days and get tested, but they do not have to be quarantined.

These updated recommendations can be found at www.nolapublicschools.com/vaccinations. 

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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.

For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.