Health and Safety
Q: Will everyone be tested for COVID-19 before the start of the school year and how often will they be tested?
A: School districts cannot require COVID-19 tests. As a community health issue, all students and staff, however, are strongly urged to be tested and to be prepared to share testing results should district health services need them in the interest of maintaining a safe work and school environment.
Q: Will there be daily health screenings for all students and staff?
A: Yes. Screening protocols have been developed for all students and staff that include a daily COVID-19 questionnaire that can be easily accessed via your mobile device prior to approaching school grounds. Upon approaching the building, each individual will be symptom screened to include a temperature and facial covering assessment.
Q: Are masks required in school buildings by everyone?
A: Facial coverings will be required by all students, staff and visitors to any of the New Milford Public School District campus buildings. Social distancing at all times and in all places cannot be guaranteed; therefore, for everyone’s safety, facial coverings will be required at all times. Students are required to wear masks at all times upon arrival to school, during in-person school time, during dismissal and while in transit if transported by school bus.
Q: What type of facial coverings will be permitted/required?
A: Facial coverings according to the CDC and the NJ Department of Health can include those that fully cover mouth and nose including surgical masks and gators.
Q: Can face shields be worn instead of a mask?
A: No. A face shield may be worn in addition to a mask according to the NJ State Department of Health. Masks are a more reliable prophylactic against the spread of germs.
Q: Are masks required while students are seated at their desk?
A: Yes, as per Governor Murphy's executive order, all students will be required to wear masks at all times while attending school. During classes, masks must be worn, unless the wearing of masks interferes with participation in certain activities or a student has a medical exemption from wearing a mask. In certain instances, common sense will prevail, as in during physical activity, drinking and eating snacks.
Q: Are masks required during gym class?
A: Facial coverings will not be required during physical activity. Students will be properly socially distanced in a large venue, such as a gymnasium, in addition to being outdoors as frequently as possible.
Q: Will teachers enforce masks when children remove their masks?
A: Yes, masks are required for all. There will be times when students students can remove a mask, such as for snack, or during scheduled break times when they are socially distanced outdoors.
Q: Will the district provide face coverings for students?
A: No, students should wear the appropriate face covering that they have been wearing and are most comfortable with. Emergency back-up facial coverings will be available.
Q: Do you have a policy for a child who frequently takes off his/her mask?
A: There will be ongoing education and instruction on the importance of wearing masks. The school will contact the parents for support in the event that additional reinforcement is needed.
Q: How will social distancing be maintained when moving throughout buildings?
A: Schools will use physical guides, such as tape on walls, floors or one-way routes in hallways, as well as signage to promote social distancing. For all movement in hallways students must wear a face covering. At the high school and middle school, students will not be assigned hallway or gym lockers to help maximize space in hallways as well as minimize close contact in PE locker rooms.
Q: Will students with mask exemptions be permitted in the classrooms, and if so, how are other students and the teacher protected? Will classroom teachers be informed of exemptions?
A: Teachers will be informed of mask exemptions. Students with mask exemptions cannot be prohibited from full participation in class activities. Maintaining social distancing standards, use of shields, and adhering to all other health and safety protocols have been established and will be enforced to protect students and staff.
Q: How will classrooms be modified to keep students safe?
A: Students will be seated six feet apart to maintain proper social distancing practices. All desks will face the same direction toward the front of the classroom. Each classroom will be outfitted with additional sanitation products to help maintain proper hand hygiene as well as plexi-glass guards.
Q: How will hand washing/sanitizing take place in the schools?
A: Most Elementary classrooms all have sinks. For those that do not, there will be staff members in the hallways to assist students in movement back and forth to the bathrooms to ensure cleaning of hands. Hand sanitizer will also be available throughout each building and in each classroom. Hand sanitizing dispensers will be installed at school entrances, in hallways, and other areas throughout each building. Proper hand washing with soap and water will be encouraged, taught and worked into the daily schedule.
Q: Who will supply hand sanitizer and appropriate cleaning supplies for the teachers since New Milford is now “green?”
A: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has provided an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved list of products that should be utilized for the combating of COVID-19. Hand sanitizer products will contain 60% ethanol and/or isopropanol alcohol to mitigate the spread of the virus further.
Q: What happens if a sibling has a temperature. Does that mean the student stays home? Also, my child has 2 days for a fever? Should they be quarantined for 2 weeks? What about the class that could have been exposed?
A: If someone in the household presents with symptoms of a fever, contact your healthcare provider immediately. They will provide guidance as to next steps for the household. If your child has 2 days of fever, again, contact your healthcare provider immediately. In the event a COVID-19 test is ordered by a physician, the Department of Health will be notified and direction will be provided to the school.
Q: What happens if my child becomes ill in school and COVID is suspected? What is the protocol? Who will be with the child and will they be left alone in the room until a parent comes?
A: If your child becomes ill at school, the teacher will contact the nurse and the student will be assessed in the isolation or quarantine area. The nurse will contact the Parent or Guardian for dismissal and instructions to have the child seen by a physician. If the Parent or Guardian is unable to pick up the students within 15 minutes, the parent must provide an emergency contact that can come and obtain the child from school within the same timeframe. School personnel will be assigned to remain socially distanced from the student to monitor them until an adult arrives to pick up the student.
Q: What guidance for contact tracing, testing, and quarantine/ isolation is in place in the event that my child’s teacher or another student in the class contracts COVID-19?
A: The Department of Health and the school health office have instituted protocols for reporting. Testing will be completed by the individual’s private physician or healthcare provider of choice. If tests are positive, protocols will be executed. Contact tracing is conducted by the County and State Department of Health contact tracers. The school is supporting this effort by cohorting students in classrooms and maintaining information of classroom attendance and close contacts. Issuance of quarantine guidelines are according to the Department of Health and CDC. Families, staff members, and students will be notified accordingly. In addition, The County and local health departments are developing a guidebook for all schools to follow. This will give further direction to schools if there is a presumptive-positive case or a confirmed-positive case among students and staff.
Q: The Health Department will contact people who may have been exposed when a positive test comes back. That can sometimes take several days. What is the protocol for this type of situation? Will we be notified immediately?
A: If a student, faculty or staff member is being tested for COVID-19, the Department of Health will be notified accordingly and will review the circumstances on a case-by-case basis. The DOH will provide guidance according to the CDC as to any necessary quarantining or institution of remote learning.
Q: As soon as the first person catches COVID-19, do we return to remote instruction immediately?
A: No. Decisions in this regard will depend on the specific circumstances of exposure and infection and dependent on direction from the New Milford Health Department, which has been advising the district throughout the pandemic.
Q: Are students sent home with fever obligated to get COVID testing? Just because they are fever free for a couple of days doesn’t mean they don’t necessarily have COVID.
A: Students, faculty and staff that have been dismissed with fever will be required to obtain a medical clearance note prior to returning to school. Whether the physician orders a COVID-19 test will be in the plan of care of the patient’s physician.
Q: What about students with asthma? What is in place for these students?
A: Students with underlying medical conditions that seek medical exemptions for masks will be honored. Families will be guided to have the student wear a face shield to avoid having anything directly over their mouth for their protection and that of their classmates and teachers.
Q: What if my kids have a seasonal allergy because sometimes when it’s hot they open the window. Do all the classrooms have air conditioning?
A: Not all classrooms have air conditioning. However, we will be utilizing as many classrooms as possible that currently have air conditioning. Windows will be opened according to reopening guidelines. Parents will be encouraged to have their child take their seasonal allergy medications prior to coming to school.
Q: Other districts are doing roaming nursing for issues such as ice packs and bandaids to prevent the students from being in the hallway. Is this an option?
A: At the start of each school, each teacher is provided with a small first aid kit specifically for that purpose. The least amount of time a student can spend outside the classroom, the better for learning. This year will be no different.
Q: Will the nurse's office be equipped to handle multiple kids in a distanced way?
A: Yes, all of the health offices will be set up for students to be assessed in a socially distanced format, at least 6 feet apart.
Q: How will lock down drills and fire drills be conducted?
A: Students will remain socially distanced during fire drills, evacuation drills, and shelter-in-place drills. The State has advised principals to conduct lockdown drills with teachers, but to include students in the drill later in the school year or upon further instruction.
Q: How many SROs will be on staff to monitor the students in addition to preventing active shooters from walking onto school grounds?
A: There will be two SLEOs assigned to each school during hours when in-person schooling is taking place.