Charleston Co. Schools prioritize COVID safeguards, vaccine opportunities

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County School District says COVID is still a concern as kids prepare to return to the classroom.

That means the district is following the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s exclusion list guidelines, which tells students and parents how long they need to stay home while contagious.

When a student tests positive for COVID and it is reported to the district, they must spend five days in isolation and can return on day six, including being fever-free for 24 hours prior, according to the district’s head of nursing, Ellen Nitz.

“So, we have really, really ramped up our strategies trying to make sure that we’re keeping these kids safe and preventing them from future disease,” Nitz said.

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The district also runs one of three “vaccines for children” programs in the entire nation, which means they can deploy their nursing teams and vaccinate students, but only with parent consent.

Nitz says having access to vaccinations can help take away some of the barriers for kids like lack of transportation, money or parents just not being aware of what their child needs or doesn’t need. The district will have a “vaccines for children” van that will go from school to school giving all required and some recommended vaccines so they can see more students in a day.

Parents are also allowed to take the at-home COVID kits that are still available at each school.

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