Mustang Public Schools take on voluntary in-school COVID-19 quarantine program
Mustang Public Schools District is the first in Oklahoma, and is believed to be the first in the nation, to take on the voluntary pilot program of in-school COVID-19 quarantine.
The goal is to allow asymptomatic students exposed to the virus to quarantine in school while learning.
Mustang school officials said students quarantining from home isn’t working for some families, so they’re allowing students at the high school only to take part in this pilot program, if they choose.
Oklahoma health commissioner Lance Frye spoke about this program alongside the First Lady Sarah Stitt and the district’s superintendent Charles Bradley.
Frye said state health officials met with the district to see if they wanted to try out the program. He said students taking part in the in-school quarantine will be tested daily, and once a negative test is received, they’ll be put into an area of the school with its own entrance and exit.
Those students will take part in distance-learning with no face-to-face contact with teachers
“It's an innovative way to safely keep kids in school so they can continue their academic studies and will give us more data to drive response to the virus,” Frye said.
“We know that some students are being left behind. As Dr. Frye mentioned, they don't either have the technology, or the support they need for remote learning,” Stitt said. “I am glad to see that our health department is finding ways to balance the health of our students and teachers with the importance of in person education.”
Families who want to quarantine their kids at home can still do so. The program runs until Dec. 23. Once they’ve collected data they will determine it will continue next semester.