• There have been questions from parents, guardians, or caregivers about the process Jackson Local Schools will use to notify those affected by confirmed COVID-19 positive cases. Here is the process explained:

    A confirmed COVID-19 test or medical diagnosis is needed for confirmation. Once a student or employee receives confirmation, the district must be informed of the positive test. The district then works collaboratively with the Stark County Health Department. The infected individual will be interviewed to determined close contacts (6 feet or less for 15 minutes or more) in the 48 hours before the onset of symptoms.

    The district, in conjunction with the Stark County Health Department, will issue exclusion letters to anyone deemed a close contact of the infected individual. Close contacts of infected individuals must be excluded from school district activities for 14 days, regardless of COVID testing and symptoms. Individuals may be asymptomatic and may develop COVID-19 during the proceeding 14 days. If any of those individuals are students, and they feel well enough, they can log in to POLARIS 2.0 and transition to eLearning without missing their curriculum and stay in sync with their peers. This is one of the benefits to Jackson Local School District's learning options and the flexibility created in it.

    Once close contacts have been identified and informed, within 24 hours the district will notify all students and staff members who might have shared classroom, activity, or transportation space with the infected individual. This is a shared space notification letter. Those people should monitor their symptoms closely. If they are symptom-free, they can continue in-person instruction.

    After those who shared space with the infected individual are notified, the Jackson Local School District will communicate to ALL families in the district of the positive case.

    Our COVID-19 dashboard can be found here. It will be updated in a timely manner.

    The flexibility in our learning models and because the Jackson Local School District already implemented a Learning Management System (POLARIS 2.0), learning inside Jackson's rigorous curriculum can continue even as circumstances change.

    As always, RestartJackson.com is populated with resources for families.