COVID-19 - Religious Education

GUIDING PRINCIPLES
            The spiritual, physical, intellectual, and emotional wellness of all students, faculty, and staff within our Catholic Schools remains our highest priority. The Office of Catholic Schools will closely monitor the rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will remain vigilant in identifying and implementing evidence-based health and safety practices.  Administrators will continue to meet with health officials to discuss possible changes to the protocol as conditions dictate. 
 
MASKS
            The Diocese of Biloxi Catholic Schools will monitor Executive Orders issued by the State of Mississippi and local municipalities concerning masks.  In absence of an Executive Order requiring masks in school buildings, masks will not be required of students or school personnel.  Students and school personnel may wear masks and will be accepted with love, respect, and compassion. 
 
SANITIZING
·Provide age appropriate education on proper hand washing techniques, cough and sneeze etiquette, and avoidance of touching the face with unclean hands. Reinforce often.
·Post age appropriate posters with proper hygiene practices in highly visible areas including posters describing proper hand washing technique near sinks.
·Ensure adequate supply of hygiene items at all times and place them in convenient locations throughout the school.
·Require hand hygiene upon arrival to school and when entering and leaving each classroom, in addition to before and after eating, before and after activities that use shared surfaces, after restroom use, after outdoor activity, after use of tissues for cough/sneezing and when hands are visibly soiled.
·Prioritize hand washing with soap and water above use of hand sanitizer when feasible. Provide hand sanitizer stations in all areas where access to sinks for hand washing is limited.
·Implement an enhanced cleaning and disinfecting schedule that increases frequency throughout the day of the cleaning of high touch shared surfaces like doorknobs, work areas, restroom and locker room facilities, sink handles, desks and chairs, shared electronic devices and any other shared surfaces.
·Utilize EPA approved disinfectants with adherence to dry times for all surfaces to ensure effectiveness. Safely store all cleaning products.
·Ensure staff members treat all bodily fluids as infectious and wear proper PPE for cleaning.
·Adequately maintain HVAC systems with clean air filters and increased ventilation rates to the greatest extent possible.
·Use of buses for transportation should be consistent with all health and safety guidelines including cleaning and disinfecting after each use.
·Be prepared to follow CDC guidance on disinfecting your building or facility if a student or staff member is confirmed with COVID-19.
     
COVID-19 EXPOSURE/INFECTION
 
If a student/school personnel has been diagnosed with COVID-19:
·The student/school personnel will be isolated from school and all activities related to the school for up to 10 days. 
·The student/school personnel may provide a negative COVID-19 test on the 5^th day following diagnosis.  This allows the student/school personnel to return to school on the 8^th day of isolation. 
 
      If a student/school personnel is known to have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19 and the student/school personnel has been fully vaccinated, the student/school personnel does not have to isolate. Contact is considered within 3 feet for 15 minutes or more. 
 
       If the student/school personnel has not been fully vaccinated and is known to have been in contact with someone who has COVID-19, the following will apply:
·The student/school personnel will be isolated from school and all school related activities for up to 10 days after the last contact with an infected individual. 
·The student/school personnel may provide a negative COVID-19 test on the 5^th day following contact. This allows the student/school personnel to return to school/work on the 8^th day of isolation.
 
VISITORS
 
      The Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Biloxi may allow visitors on campuses.  Non-vaccinated visitors age 12 years and over are encouraged to wear masks while inside the school buildings.
 
SPECTATORS AT EVENTS
 
      The Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Biloxi will follow Executive Orders issued by the State of Mississippi for events.
 
 
MONITORING FOR SYMPTOMS OF COVID-19
 
      Enforce that students and staff must stay home for any one of the following criteria:
·Positive test for COVID-19
·Known close contact with a person who is lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 (unless fully vaccinated)
·Fever of 100.4F or greater
 

The purpose of this page is to provide guidance for parish religious education and RCIA programs in light of COVID-19.  Now is the time to develop plans before these programs begin in September.

Parishes will need to follow the guidelines from our federal, state, and local health and civil officials to socially distance, wash/sanitize hands often, sanitize frequently touched surfaces, and wear a facemask in public spaces or gatherings of 2 or more persons.

Parishes should develop 3 plans now, before these programs begin in September:

- Plan A: How will we begin parish religious education and RCIA at the normal time if we are not allowed to gather together in person?

- Plan B: How will we begin parish religious education and RCIA at the normal time if we are allowed to gather in person and our class and/or RCIA group size is within the number allowed for indoor gatherings?

- Plan C:  How will we begin parish religious education and RCIA at the normal time if we are allowed to gather in person and our class and/or RCIA group size is not within the number allowed for indoor gatherings?

In planning, you can utilize any of the many COVID-19 resources you’ve received from my office that are offered by publishers, as well as any other resources you may be aware of.  When in person sessions are not possible, we encourage the use of platforms such as Zoom or Google Classroom that make it possible for class / group members to interact with each other and with teachers.

Once you have developed your 3 plans, communicate them to the members of your parish in written form (parish bulletin, parish website, email, etc.) now, so that everyone will know what to expect before the programs begin in September.

Below is a policy for you to include with Religious Education and RCIA registration information.  This is the same policy being used by our schools with some wording changed for parish usage.