Safety Protocols

Face Coverings

Students will be required to have their own reusable, washable face coverings to attend school. Face coverings will be worn all day except for designed breaks. Accommodations will be made for students with certain medical or other conditions that prohibit the use of a face covering. Teachers, administrators and staff will also wear a mask at all times, except for designated breaks. Much more information regarding face coverings can be found here.

Health Screenings

Parents are required to follow a Daily Home Screening Checklist before sending their children to school. It outlines the symptoms that could indicate COVID-19, and directs parents not to send their children to school if any of those symptoms are present.

Every staff member is responsible for daily self-assessment prior to entering a school building, and also is responsible for informing his or her administrator of exposure to COVID-19 or travel outside of New Jersey.

Every visitor will be screened upon entering any district building. That process will include a temperature check, and each visitor will be asked questions that could indicate an exposure to infection.

If Someone Tests Positive

The NJ Department of Health recently issued more specific guidelines on how schools should handle positive COVID-19 cases. Under the new guidelines:

• If one teacher or student in a school has a confirmed COVID-19 case, the school can remain open. But anyone the person came close to at school will be asked to quarantine at home. "Students and staff in close contact with a positive case are excluded from school for 14 days."

• If two people in the same classroom get sick, the school can remain open. But everyone in the classroom could be asked to quarantine. “Recommendations for whether the entire classroom would be considered exposed will be based on public health investigation.”

• If two or more people in different classrooms have confirmed COVID-19 cases within 14 days at the same school, it gets more complicated. The entire school could be shut down if “a clear connection between cases or to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 cannot be easily identified.”

This article from NJ.com explains the guidance, which can be found in full here.