BUA COVID Protocols

All members of the Boston University Academy school community have a shared responsibility in maintaining a safe and healthy campus. It is imperative that all students, families, faculty, and staff commit to the school’s health and safety policies and procedures to prevent the spread of illness and to help keep one another safe. This is our collective responsibility for the health of the community.

We expect members of the BUA community to agree to the following norms and expectations:

• Follow federal, state, and local orders related to COVID-19
• Notify the school if your child tests positive for COVID-19 or if they are symptomatic and awaiting test results
• Keep your child home if they have symptoms or have tested positive
• Complete and submit all required student medical forms prior to the first day of school

It should be understood that, based on public health circumstances, that BU and BUA guidance and protocols may change, potentially abruptly. It is expected that all families, faculty, and staff will follow all new guidance and protocols that are put in place.

In advance of the start of the school year, all families should update vaccination status in SchoolDoc. To update vaccination status to SchoolDoc, parents/guardians should:

• Log into their SchoolDoc account
• Click on the Enrollment Paperwork section in the middle of the screen, then choose the immunizations section from the list on the right side of the screen
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and select whether the student has received the Covid-19 vaccination or not
• If yes, continue on to upload your student’s vaccination documentation and enter the dates for dose 1, 2, and any boosters, then click confirm.

For assistance uploading to SchoolDoc, please contact Derek Dettorre.

When additional boosters become available, you can book a vaccination appointment at a MassVax site, authorized pharmacy, or regional health collaborative.

In advance of the start of the school year, all families should update vaccination status in SchoolDoc.

• Masks will be optional for all students, faculty, and staff in all BUA and BU spaces – including classrooms, common areas, school meetings, indoor athletics, and rehearsals. We will continue to foster an environment where students and adults feel comfortable wearing masks if they choose to. 
• An exception to the mask-optional policy is for individuals who test positive for COVID; per CDC guidance, following a mandatory 5-day isolation period, individuals may return to BUA but must wear a face covering on days 6-10 following their positive test.
• Close contacts will be asked to wear a face covering indoors for 10 days following exposure.
• BU has revised its masking policy such that face coverings are optional in all University spaces, including classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and common spaces.
• If they choose to wear one, students, employees, and visitors are expected to provide their own face covering.
  
• BUA will maintain a supply of extra masks should they be needed.

• Per CDC guidance, if an individual tests positive for COVID, they must stay home and isolate for a minimum of 5 days from the onset of symptoms OR from the date of their positive test.
• Individuals may return to campus on or after Day 6 if they are symptom-free or symptoms are resolving; they must wear a well-fitting mask through day 10 following a positive COVID test.
• Individuals who test positive for COVID do not need a negative rapid antigen test in order to return to campus.
• Close contacts are not required to quarantine.
• Individuals exposed to COVID should take a test as soon as they learn they are a close contact, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms.
• BU and BUA will not be conducting contact tracing.
• Spaces within the BUA building will be designated as medical waiting rooms to allow for separation of students who are symptomatic, receive a positive test result, or who are self-administering a rapid COVID test while on campus.

Families play a vital role in maintaining safety on campus. The number one safety measure is to keep a child home if they meet any of the below criteria. BUA students, faculty, and staff should not come to campus if they:

• are experiencing any of the following new symptoms of COVID-19 that have arisen in the past 14 days (see list of symptoms below)
• are symptomatic and are awaiting results or have been told the test was positive

COVID-19 symptoms may include: fever of 100° F or greater; shivering/chills; sore throat; new cough not related to chronic condition; difficulty breathing; shortness of breath; congestion; runny nose; nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; severe fatigue; severe muscle aches; headache; new loss of of taste or smell. This list will be updated periodically.

Parents/guardians should contact their child’s pediatrician if they are symptomatic or receive a positive test result.

The most important protective measure for our community is staying home when symptomatic. If a student is experiencing symptoms when away from school, we ask that the student stay home and that the family contact the front desk to report the absence by 8:30 a.m. by calling 617-353-9000 or emailing academy@bu.edu. If the student feels well enough to come to school, the student must take an antigen test at home and only come to school after receiving a negative test result. They should wear a mask while symptomatic.

Students experiencing symptoms at school should check in with the front desk staff, who will arrange for a conversation with a nurse from BU Student Health Services. The nurse may recommend that the student take a COVID test at BU’s testing center and go home, pending the result of that test.

COVID-19 PCR testing is available for individuals who are experiencing symptoms or who have had a close contact exposure.  Students who need PCR testing should schedule an appointment at Student Health Services, located at 881 Commonwealth Ave. If you have questions about test results, symptoms or care, please contact Student Health Services. Although remote learning is no longer an option for symptomatic or COVID-positive students, teachers will be flexible with students who miss classes and will make time to work with those students outside of class.

For more protocols for individuals who test positive, see below.

Per CDC guidance, the recommended isolation period for those who test positive is a minimum of five days, regardless of whether an individual is experiencing symptoms. BUA will adhere to the five-day isolation period, along with the University and in line with guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Community members who test positive may return to campus following 5 days of isolation if they are symptom-free or their symptoms are resolving and they feel well enough to return to school. Individuals must wear a well-fitting mask on Days 6-10 following a positive test.

As always, students who test positive – at home or at BU – should stay home.

Students who test positive through on-campus test collection will be notified of their result by email and through the patient connect portal. In each case, the individual should notify their primary care physician and begin to notify possible close contacts as well as on-campus spaces that they recently inhabited.

Students, faculty, or staff who test positive through off-campus test collection should contact their primary care physician and remain at home (except to get medical care). It is also expected that they notify the school of the positive test result (either by calling the front desk at 617-353-9000 or by email academy@bu.edu). 

During the isolation period, infected individuals are expected to remain at home (except to get medical care), monitor their symptoms, and notify personal close contacts.

The CDC defines a close contact as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (e.g., three 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes). 

Close contacts are not required to quarantine. Individuals exposed to COVID should take a test at BU as soon as they learn they are a close contact, regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms. Close contacts should mask indoors for 10 days following exposure and test again on day 6 after exposure. BU and BUA will not be conducting contact tracing.

Students, faculty, and staff do not need to notify BUA if they have been identified as a close contact of an individual who has tested positive. 

In the case of a positive test result, follow all steps under the “Student, Faculty, or Staff Tests Positive for COVID-19.”

In instances of multiple cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the school at one time, or if there are a series of single cases in a short time span, school leaders will work with Boston University health officials and the Boston Public Health Commission to assist in the determination of whether it is likely that there is transmission happening at the school and plan appropriate steps.