An email from Liz Arsnow, Activities Assistant at Arrowhead High School, was sent to Arrowhead students on October 5th, 2020.  The document attached in this email was in regards to the virus and student contact pertaining to Student Athlete(s)/Activity Participant(s) at Arrowhead High School.

The first paragraph, written by Ryan Mangan, Athletic Director, and Gregg Wieczorek, Principal, states “there has been some confusion in regard to when a student who was a close contact can come back to participate in school activities.”

In the second paragraph, Ryan Mangan, Athletic Director, and Gregg Wieczorek, Principal, say, “the CDC guidelines suggest that a 14-day quarantine ends on the 24th hours of the 14th day,” referring to the 14th day of close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19.

Ethan Damon, a student at Arrowhead, says “it is very overcomplicated” and “there is a better way to say that you just have to wait two weeks.”  He says that “I understand what they mean, but some people might not get what ‘14-day quarantine ends on the 24th hour of the 14th day’ means.”

Continuing, the letter reads “due to this discrepancy, Arrowhead has decided to adhere more closely to the CDC guidelines and allow students to participate in their co-curricular activities starting at 2:45 pm on their last day in quarantine as long as they have not developed any symptoms.”  

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website says that “People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.”  The CDC goes on to state “people with these symptoms may have COVID-19: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, [and/or] diarrhea.”  

These are the symptoms that Ryan Mangan and Gregg Wieczorek are referring to in this letter. In their letter they said, “for example, if a quarantine ends on October 7th your child may participate in their co-curricular activity on the 7th and return to school on the 8th.  The time of 2:45 was chosen because all of our close contacts would have occurred during school time….

“Parents can choose to keep their child home if they prefer not to send them at 2:45 on the 14th day…We are trying to provide as many opportunities as possible for our students and feel that this is in their best interest.”