Education Information

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Current Guidance and District Plans

Updated Education Directives and Guidance

2021-22 Covid-19 Guidelines for Prevention and Outbreak Control in School Settings (2/17/2022)
COVID-19 Guidelines During Outbreaks or Suspected Outbreaks in School Settings updated 02/02/2022 – from Nevada Department of Health and Human Services and Medical Advisory Team
Guidance on Mask Exemptions in Children and Adolescents (12/20/21)
Emergency Directive 048 (08/04/21)
#21-02: Guidance for 2021-22 School Year Reopening (05/28/21)
COVID-19 Education Response Overview (02/26/2021)

Find additional Information:

Current Status of Mask Requirements in Nevada School Districts

Face Coverings

Per Emergency Directive 048, face covering requirements are in place as follows:

Indoors: Universal mask use is recommended for all adults and students regardless of vaccination status. Children under 2 years of age should not wear a mask.
Outdoors: In general, people do not need to wear masks when outdoors. However, particularly in areas of high transmission, such as during a school outbreak, those who are not fully vaccinated should wear a mask if the outdoor setting is crowded or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.

Use of face coverings is required for all students, regardless of vaccination status, in schools that meet the following criteria:

In counties whose population is equal to or greater than 100,000.
In counties whose population is less than 100,000, if the school district or school has adopted a policy requiring use of face coverings.
During a school outbreak, until the outbreak is deemed to be over by the local public health authority.

Nevada School District Reopening Plans and Responses

The links below will direct families to useful information about COVID-19 re-opening plans and responses in individual Nevada school districts.

Carson City School District	Clark County School District	Churchill County School District	Douglas County School District	White Pine School District
Elko School District	Esmeralda School District	Eureka School District	Humboldt County School District	Private and Charter Schools
Lander School District	Lincoln School District	Lyon School District	Mineral School District
Nye School District	Pershing School District	Storey School District	Washoe County School District

Additional and Previous Guidance to schools, students, and their families on how to prepare, prevent, and respond to COVID-19.

Nevada COVID-19 School Tracker Dashboard

Access the real-time COVID-19 school tracker dashboard from the Department of Health and Human Services. The “Current Status” tab of the dashboard displays the number of COVID-19 cases in Nevada K-12 schools since October 2020, and counts of cases can be filtered by region and county. The “School Tracker” tab allows for filtering by school name, type, and level.

ACCESS THE DASHBOARD

Current Status of Nevada School District Mask Requirements

Face Coverings

Per Emergency Directive 048, face covering requirements are in place as follows:

CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.

When teachers, staff, and students consistently and correctly wear a mask, they protect others as well as themselves. Consistent and correct mask use is especially important indoors and in crowded settings when physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Indoors: Universal mask use is recommended for all adults and students regardless of vaccination status. Children under 2 years of age should not wear a mask.
Outdoors: In general, people do not need to wear masks when outdoors. However, particularly in areas of high transmission, such as during a school outbreak, those who are not fully vaccinated should wear a mask if the outdoor setting is crowded or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.

Use of face coverings is required for all students, regardless of vaccination status, in schools that meet the following criteria:

In counties whose population is equal to or greater than 100,000.
In counties whose population is less than 100,000, if the school district or school has adopted a policy requiring use of face coverings.
During a school outbreak, until the outbreak is deemed to be over by the local public health authority.

Information for School Leaders

School leaders can find additional details regarding COVID-19 Testing, Mitigation Strategies, Outbreak Protocols, and other important information at the Nevada Department of Education’s COVID-19 Information Webpage.

COVID-19 Testing Options

The Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) and the Department of Education (NDE) have several opportunities to support a robust COVID response within Nevada’s school system. The largest direct funding opportunity is the CDC’s ELC Reopening Schools: Support for Screening Testing to Reopen & Keep Schools Operating Safely.

Through this grant, DPBH has allocated the funding by school district or school at $200/student. This funding is in place for the 2021-2022 school year. This is not competitive, so the money is there for the district/school to use as needed based on the allowable expenses.

There are many options to consider in order to best meet the needs of your specific county or school, so please reach out if you have any questions to Jeri Borges or schedule a meeting at: j.borges@health.nv.gov.

COVID-19 Testing Protocols

Testing protocols are in place for the 2021-22 school year with a particular focus on students and staff participating in activities that require them to cross county lines. Testing requirements are in place as follows:

DHHS recommends that testing of all those that are unvaccinated, both staff and students, occur at least weekly to be effective. In schools where testing of all staff and students is not feasible, schools may consider multiple testing strategies, for example, testing a random sample of at least 10% of staff and students who are not fully vaccinated.
Weekly testing of those involved in school-based extracurricular activities, including athletics, must occur for those that are not fully vaccinated. Those that should be included in the testing program include: student athletes, participants, coaches, trainers, and other people (such as adult volunteers) who are not fully vaccinated and could come into close contact with others during these activities. Any activities with elevated risk such as those that involve singing, shouting, band, and exercise that could lead to increased exhalation should be included. If community transmission reaches CDC’s substantial transmission level (orange), screening for this group should increase to twice weekly. Once community transmission reaches the high transmission level (red), sports and extracurricular activities should be canceled or held virtually to protect in-person learning, unless all participants are fully vaccinated.

Responding to COVID-19 School Outbreaks

School leaders can find details regarding Outbreak Protocols at the Nevada Department of Education’s COVID-19 Information Webpage.

Information for Educators

Resources for educators from the CDC:

Information for Parents and Families

Resources for parents and families from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services:

Resources for parents and families from the CDC: