As Covid conditions and CDC recommendations are in flux, please check back
for possible updates in our Covid policies on or about Sept. 1, 2021
Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy
Protocols and Policy for COVID-19 Safety at Fanfare!
NOTE: The following protocols and policies have been extracted, modified and adopted from COVID-19 policies recommended by GISD, CDC classroom protocols and other music studio COVID-19 protocols.
The safety of all Fanfare students and staff is our utmost priority. As we begin the 2020-21 school year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the following protocols and policies will apply to all onsite instructional times at Fanfare.
Social Distancing
Parents must ensure they do not bring a child to Fanfare if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19. Instead, child will receive link for online instruction until conditions for re-entry are met*. (*Please see ”Re-Entry/ Return to Fanfare” below.)
Class size will be limited in most cases to 4-8 students and one teacher per class. Larger classes, such as Fanfare Singers, will be held in the large, downstairs fellowship hall or other larger spaces where students can easily distance 6 ft or more.
When students enter and exit classroom, they will be required to clean hands with hand sanitizer provided by Fanfare, and to limit touching anything non-essential. Doors to common areas will remain open to limit touching of handles.
Each student will have his or her own table or seating area. Siblings may share. Tables are positioned and kept at least 6 feet apart.
All participants must practice contact-free greetings. (i.e., smiling, waving, friendly gestures; no hugging, hand-shakes, etc.)
There will be no partner or group projects.
Students should use bathroom and get water before or after class; movement in and out of classrooms will be discouraged.
Students will not be allowed to form lines or congregate at restroom, etc. They must go one at a time.
Communal equipment must be wiped with disinfecting wipes between each use.
Instructors will demonstrate techniques and suggestions on their own instrument, not the students’.
Where possible, each instrument will be used by only one student per day and sanitized when finished. Where not possible, instruments will be sanitized between uses.
Face Coverings
All staff, students and family members are required to wear face coverings for others’ protection, not the wearer’s! We operate under the well-founded assumption that asymptomatic individuals of any age can still spread COVID-19 if they have been exposed.
Disposable face coverings will be made available for those who need them. Please request in advance to ensure availability.
Health Monitoring
All Instructors and students are required to sign Fanfare! Lutheran Music Academy’s Policy for COVID-19 Safety, stating they have not exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 in the past 14 days, and waiving the right to enter our facility otherwise.
Anyone participating in in-person, onsite classes should not have exhibited a fever above 100º F for 24 hours before returning to GAC.
Any student exhibiting a fever or cough will be separated from others and sent home immediately.
Please advise the Director if the student has an unrelated respiratory condition or cannot remove a face covering without assistance.
Cleaning and Sanitization
Upon entering the building, all staff, instructors and students must wash or sanitize their hands. Hand sanitizer is located in the check-in area and the classrooms.
Instructors will arrive early, take out all supplies needed before class, and sanitize reusable items with alcohol wipes.
Fanfare has heightened cleaning protocols throughout our areas, including frequent disinfection of “high-touch” surfaces such as door handles and restrooms.
There will be instituted this year a 15 min break between classes to allow students to leave before other students arrive for next class period. Classrooms will be cleaned and sanitized between each class. When possible, classrooms will be left “fallow” for at least an hour after use, with teacher moving to another classroom for next class period.
Students may be asked to wipe down their personal workspace with sanitizing wipes at the end of each class.
Students will not be permitted to share personal items, including electronic devices, with one another.
Students may not get supplies out of storage areas.
Students must keep personal items with them at their work area. There will be no access to in-common areas for storage of personal belongings,.
Staff Training
Fanfare staff is committed to staying informed by local, state, federal, and CDC guidelines and will make necessary operational modifications as needed. We will continue to develop additional protocols and procedures that prioritize the health and safety of our students and staff.
Staff And Student Health Reporting
● Staff must report to Director if they themselves have COVID-19 symptoms or are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and, if so, must remain off Fanfare premises until they meet the criteria for re-entry (see below for re-entry information).
● Any student feeling feverish should be given an immediate temperature check to determine if they are symptomatic.
● Any person presenting a temperature above 100.0 or who shows COVID-19 symptoms while at Fanfare will be sent home. Waiting in an isolation room will be available prior to student pick up for a limited time only.
● Parents must ensure they do not send a child to Fanfare if the child has COVID-19 symptoms or is lab-confirmed with COVID-19, and instead will receive remote instruction until the conditions for re-entry* are met.
* COVID-19 Symptoms
Have you/they recently begun experiencing any of the following in a way that is not normal for you/them?
● Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit
● Loss of taste or smell
● Cough
● Difficulty breathing
● Shortness of breath
● Headache
● Chills
● Sore throat
● Shaking or exaggerated shivering
● Significant muscle pain or ache
Close Contact
Persons who came into “close contact” with an individual with a confirmed case of COVID-19 will be contacted and advised to self-quarantine for 14 days and follow other CDC health guidelines.
Close contact is determined by an appropriate public health agency. For clarity, close contact is defined as:
a. being directly exposed to infectious secretions (e.g., being coughed on while not wearing a mask or face
shield); or
b. being within 6 feet for a cumulative duration of 15 minutes, while not wearing a mask or face shield; if either occurred at any time in the last 14 days at the same time the infected individual was infectious.
Individuals are presumed infectious at least two days prior to symptom onset or, in the case of asymptomatic individuals who are lab-confirmed with COVID-19, two days prior to the confirming lab test.
Post-Lab Confirmed COVID-19
These are required actions if individuals with lab-confirmed COVID-19 have been on the premises of Fanfare:
If an individual who has been at Fanfare has been lab-confirmed to have COVID-19, Fanfare Lutheran Music Academy must notify the Galveston County Health District, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations, including confidentiality requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).The Academy will close off the areas that were heavily used by the individual with the lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 until the nonporous surfaces in those areas can be disinfected, unless more than 3 days have already passed since that person was on the premises.
Fanfare must notify all staff and families of students in Fanfare if a lab-confirmed COVID -19 case is identified among students, staff or anyone else on premises.
*If two or more confirmed COVID-19 cases are in one specific classroom, students and staff of that classroom will be advised to self-quarantine and class will move to online while the affected area is closed for deep cleaning.
*If COVID-19 cases exceed 10% of facility occupancy, the entire facility will be closed for a minimum of five (5) days. Students and staff will move to online learning. Students and staff may return to Fanfare if symptom free after cleaning.
Re-Entry/ Return to Fanfare:
Any individual who is either (a) lab-confirmed to have COVID-19 or (b) experienced the symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home during the infection period, and cannot return to Fanfare until the Academy screens the individual to determine if any of the conditions for re-entry below have been met:
● If diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual must meet all of the following 3 conditions:
1. At least 72 hours have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications).
2. Improvement in symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, etc):
3. At least ten days have passed since symptoms first appeared
● If symptoms that could be COVID-19 are not evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, such individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to Fanfare until the individual has completed the same three steps listed above.
● If the individual has symptoms that could be COVID-19 related and wants to return to Fanfare before completing the above stay at home period, the individual must either (a) obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis; or (b) receive two separate confirmations at least 24 hours apart that they are free of COVID at an approved COVID-19 testing location.
August 17, 2020