DSST is a special community because of your daily efforts to support, grow and love our students. Your work is hard enough without having to contend with things like COVID-19. Keeping you safe and healthy is very important to me.  Over the coming days and weeks, we will try to do our best to keep you fully informed on the COVID-19 situation. Below is an update. 

• All DSST schools will be following the protocols and plans of our district partners DPS and APS.  If those district plans differ from each other (APS vs. DPS) we will keep you informed on any key decision points.
• DPS sent a communication home to all families yesterday, and we re-sent that same letter to our families informing them that we will be following DPS guidelines. That letter is here.  APS sent a letter home earlier this week and again, we have just forwarded that communication to our AST families. That letter is here.
• DPS has a very comprehensive FAQ document that they are updating regularly.  This should be helpful to all families and staff - regardless of district.  APS has a less robust but still useful page here. 
• We encourage you to get familiar with the basic plans and protocols of your district so that you can help guide your teams and families. That being said, you are not expected to be an expert on all things COVID-19!  You should absolutely refer families to the Colorado helpline CO-Help at 303-389-1687 or 877-462-2911, or email COHELP@RMPDC.org. Answers are available in English, Spanish, Mandarin and other languages.

We also want to do what we can to protect the health of all of you as we enter this next phase.   Please be sure you are partnering with your managers to ensure any days off are captured accurately in Workday.  This is critical so we can monitor the overall health of our team.  If you need a quick refresher on how to do this, see this guide.   The Colorado Department of Health is asking that we all help track patterns.  If you suspect you have the flu it would be helpful for us to know that. You can enter that information in the “comment” field of your Workday absence request.

Additionally, if you are travelling to a country that the CDC has determined to have an Alert – Level 2 or Warning – Level 3 we ask that you notify your School Director (or Service Team lead for Home Office employees) asap. 

Finally, effective immediately, Aetna members will have access to the following resources:

• Aetna will waive copays for all diagnostic testing related to COVID-19
• Aetna will offer $0 copays for Teladoc visits for any reason – for the next 90 days
• Members who are diagnosed will receive a care package that will include over-the-counter medications to help relieve symptoms
• Aetna will proactively reach out to members who are most at-risk for COVID-19
• Aetna is extending its Medicare Advantage virtual evaluation and monitoring visit benefit for all members 

Read the full announcement from Aetna here. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this information and stay up to date.  We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you as informed as we are able.