COVID-19 Notification Protocols – What to Expect
The Greater Johnstown School District is committed to transparency in terms of sharing information about COVID-19 in our school community. To date, we have been able to reopen our schools without incident, and by diligently following health and safety protocols, we are hopeful that this trend will continue. However, IF we do end up with a confirmed positive COVID-19 case in our district, we want you to know what our communication protocols will be.
First, we would like you to know that we will be working in concert with our local DOH (Fulton County Public Health Department) and will not issue any COVID-19 notifications until we have received confirmation of a positive case from them.
Our local DOH will take the lead on all contact tracing and the district will provide all necessary information to assist them in contact tracing efforts. If someone in your household is at risk of exposure, you will be contacted directly by the DOH. Based on their contact tracing, the local DOH will also determine who (if anyone) needs to quarantine and for how long and who (if anyone) needs to be tested. Those decisions will NOT be made by the district.
How will we notify families and staff?
In the event of a confirmed positive case among GJSD students or staff, all staff members and parents/guardians will receive notification through ParentSquare, the district’s mass notification system. We will also post the information on the district website: https://www.johnstownschools.org/
Please make sure you’re signed up for ParentSquare:
If you are not yet signed up for ParentSquare, we encourage you to do so here:
https://www.parentsquare.com/
You can also download the FREE ParentSquare app on your mobile phone.
Sign up using the email and phone number that you have on file with the district, and you will automatically be linked to your child.
If you need to update your contact information, have trouble linking to your child on ParentSquare or if you are having difficulties logging on to ParentSquare or the Parent Portal (School Tool), please fill out this digital form, which is also available on the GJSD website in the “Tech Help For Students” button on the home page:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdN4ij1L3njJW-Xn4T5vveehTgo5Y6Md6Mhj8f37pMSMeKyDw/viewform
What will be be able to tell you?
Notification of a positive COVID-19 case will indicate which of our three schools the case is connected to – Pleasant Avenue Elementary (grades K-2), Warren Street Elementary (grades 3-6) or the Johnstown Jr.-Sr. High School (grades 7-12). Beyond that, we will take the lead on this topic from our local DOH to make sure we are not violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other privacy laws. Again, if someone in your household is at risk of exposure, you will be contacted directly by the DOH.
Potential for changes to school schedule:
If a positive COVID-19 case requires changes to our current hybrid school schedule, that information will also be communicated to staff and parents through ParentSquare and will be posted on the district website.