Columbia Public Schools returns with COVID-19 precautions in place

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Public Schools is set to return for the 2021-22 school year on Tuesday with multiple COVID-19 precautions in place. CPS is welcoming back close to 19,000 students and nearly 3,000 employees at their 42 buildings on Tuesday.

Masks

According to the district's website, masks are required indoors for students, staff and visitors. Masks are required on school buses for all students per CDC regulations.

Masks are not required when students and staff are outdoors.

Watch playback of a live report in the player below.

Contact Tracing & COVID-19 Protocols

CPS has put into place multiple protocols if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19.

• Quarantine is not required if a person is fully vaccinated and does not have any symptoms.
• Quarantine is not required if a person consistently wears a mask and is socially distant from a positive case for less than 15 minutes and does not have any symptoms.
• Quarantine is not required for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have completed their quarantine within the past three months and don't have symptoms.

The district will complete contact tracing for people who aren't wearing a mask and are within three feet of a positive case while indoors for more than 15 minutes.

• A 10-day quarantine is required if a person is exposed to COVID-19.
• A seven-day quarantine is required if a person have a negative PCR test between day five and seven and doesn't have any symptoms.

Vaccines

The district supports vaccination for its students and staff members. Vaccine appointments can be found on the city of Columbia's website.

According to the CPS COVID tracker updated on Monday, 20 students across the district currently have active cases of the coronavirus, with 12 of them being at the elementary level. Thirteen other students in the district are being quarantined due to close contact.

Three district staff members currently have active cases, while two are in quarantine.

On Monday, the CPS 14-day rate of new COVID-19 cases per 10,000 people living in the school district was at 46.3. On the last day of the 2020-21 school year, June 3, that rate was at 5.5.

There were 93 new cases of the coronavirus Monday in people living within the CPS district.

Watch ABC 17 News This Morning at 6:30 for a live report with CPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood.