We have truly reached the last few days of summer break! Today, we welcomed back our teachers and paraprofessionals. This Monday, August 30, the 2021-22 year begins for students. We are excited to greet our students and look forward to a rich and rewarding school year. We continue to offer a virtual option to interested families. Feel free to contact your child’s principal with any questions about his or her instructional mode.

As we prepare to host students in our buildings, it is important that the health and safety guidelines we are committed to uphold are clearly understood by all students and families. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s principal or me.

The following represent the District’s layered mitigation measures currently in place for the upcoming school year:

MASKS/FACE COVERINGS

• All students, staff and visitors are required to wear a mask/face covering when inside any of the District’s buildings. Cloth masks and double layered gaiters are acceptable face coverings. Please see the CDC’s Your Guide to Masks for additional information.

• Mask breaks will be provided on a regular basis at all levels.

• Teachers will provide brief mask breaks during class that will not extend more than 5 minutes. While students participate in mask breaks, they should be seated at their desks and physically distanced 3’ or more from classmates in grades 7-12 and 6’ to the greatest extent feasible in kindergarten - grade 6 (the recommended distance is greater for this age group, when not wearing masks, due to their inability to be vaccinated).

• When students are outside for physical education, learning activities, or recess, masks are optional.

• When students are eating snacks or drinking water, their masks can be removed. The time period for removal should be less than 5 minutes. While students participate in mask breaks, they should be seated at their desks and physically distanced 3’ or more from classmates in grades 7-12 and 6’ to the greatest extent feasible in kindergarten - grade 6 (the recommended distance is greater for this age group, when not wearing masks, due to their inability to be vaccinated).

• During lunch, after students have moved through the lunch line and are seated at their assigned table seat, they may remove their mask to eat. When finished eating, students should once again wear their mask.

• Mask/Face covering exemption requests require completion of the Student Mask Exemption Form. Exemption requests require a medical or mental health professional’s signature and should be submitted to your child’s school nurse for review and approval. In the event there are questions, the building administrator will participate in the review process.

• Mask exemption forms can be submitted electronically or in print to the school nurse. The email address of your child’s school nurse is available on the website, Staff Directory.

• Students with an IEP or 504 requesting a mask/face covering exemption should reach out to their case manager. These requests will be reviewed by the IEP or 504 team, respectively.

• All students, coaches, advisors, chaperones, and drivers are required to wear a mask/face covering while riding a school bus (drivers are not required to wear a face covering when alone on the bus).

DAILY PRACTICES

• All students, staff and visitors will be expected to conduct daily symptom monitoring by referring to the chart pictured below. Anyone who is not feeling well and experiencing symptoms of COVID should stay home from school and consult a healthcare professional and their school nurse.

• Students and staff will be encouraged to wash or sanitize hands frequently.

• Students in lunch will be distanced 3’-6’ to the greatest extent possible; 6’ in grades 1-6.

• Daily cleaning protocols will include wiping down high touch surfaces.

• Ventilation will be monitored for the percentage of outdoor air circulated and length of time circulation occurs daily. Hepa air filters will be made available in appropriate situations and settings.

CLOSE CONTACTS

• When students come in close contact (within 3’) to a confirmed positive COVID case for 15 minutes or more, if both are wearing masks, the exposed student does NOT have to quarantine.

• If the exposed student in the above scenario is vaccinated, he/she/they are NOT required to quarantine.

• If and when students are required to isolate (this happens when they are a confirmed positive) or quarantine, our teachers and/or paraprofessional staff will offer academic support.

COMMUNICATIONS

• The District’s COVID dashboard will be updated daily, as needed, once the school year begins for students.

• Weekly communications from the Superintendent’s office will continue.

When it comes to masking, I am aware of the differences in opinion among our community. We have updated our COVID page to include a variety of publications from different sources in support of masks/face coverings as part of a layered approach to mitigating transmission of the virus. If students or families choose not to comply with the mask requirement, and do not qualify for an exemption, the students will NOT be permitted to attend onsite school. They will be placed in a virtual instruction mode.

The District continues to review the incidence, positivity and hospitalization rates in our community and county and to consider the most appropriate recommendations and guidelines in response. The circumstances of the pandemic remain quite fluid and as a result, discussions about health and safety are ongoing. Your partnership in upholding these mitigation measures is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Russell, Ed.D.

Superintendent

• Chromebook malfunctions/damages: Email the helpdesk@pvsd.org
• Forgotten student passwords: Go to https://accounts.pvsd.org
• FAQs about Chromebooks can be found on our website

21-22 v1 8/25/21