CT Region One Schools Lifting Mask Requirements March 1, 2022 (though still allowed for those choosing to wear them)
Changes to Region 1 COVID-19 Safety Protocols (Public Announcement As Shared Online. Region One Schools include the public schools in Falls Village, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Kent and Cornwall)
As a result of the shift to an alternative approach to controlling the spread of COVID-19, the State Department of Education (CSDE) has partnered with the CT DPH to create a set of guidelines that will help schools safely manage their school environments at this time. These guidelines become effective in Region 1 on Tuesday, March 1, 2022.
As we have done in the past, Region 1 administrators and nurses have worked together with the Region 1 Medical Advisor to create a Region 1 document entitled Changes to School COVID-19 Safety Practices as a reference tool for staff, parents/caregivers and students. This document aligns with the DPH/CSDE guidance and includes the following significant changes to COVID-19 mitigation practices:
● While continuing to be recommended, face masks/coverings will no longer be required while students
and staff are in school and/or participating in athletic and/or other extracurricular activities.
○ Please note that Staff will not be monitoring students who are sent to school with masks.
Students and parents/caregivers will be responsible for their own choices.
○ It is expected that masked and unmasked individuals will treat each other with respect.
● Individual case investigation and contact tracing will be discontinued as the focus on virus management
shifts to clusters of cases and less on individual investigation of positive cases.
● Social distancing will not be required; however, where possible, all Region 1 schools will continue to
maintain their classrooms and public spaces such that students are at a minimum of three feet from one
another.
Safety protocols that will continue to be implemented are as follows:
● Per Federal health and safety guidelines, all students and adults must continue to wear masks/face
coverings on the school bus. This requirement is expected to be rescinded by March 18, 2022.
● Staff and families must continue to inform the school nurse if they become positive with COVID-19.
○ The Superintendent must continue to report all positive cases to the CT CPH, and
○ The Central Office staff will continue to update the Region 1 website daily as new cases are
reported in each school.
● All staff and families should not come to school if they are sick and should continue to follow
the updated Region 1 Health and Safety Protocols for isolation and quarantine. Students or staff who
develop symptoms that are similar to those associated with COVID-19 during the school day will be sent home.
● School-based weekly PCR testing will continue as long as the CSDE continues to fund this effort.
● Schools will continue to hold vaccination clinics as long as they are available through the CT
DPH-sponsored program.
We understand that parents/caregivers, staff and students may be anxious about all of the changes that are being
proposed in the CT DPH/CSDE recommendations. Please know that we will continue to closely monitor the
incidence of COVID-19 in our schools as well as in our communities.
The new CT CPH guidelines allow us to
work with the Region 1 Medical Advisor and the staff at the Torrington Area Health and Sharon Heath
Districts to determine the need to return to more restrictive mitigation practices, including the use of
masks/face coverings in these circumstances:
● Surges in community spread of COVID-19 due to the emergence of new variants, waning immunity,
and/or other factors
● Outbreaks in particular schools or classrooms
● Worsening conditions related to COVID-19 disease transmission in their communities and/or in
surrounding areas.
Thus, it is evident that continued reporting with respect to positive COVID-19 cases is extremely important to
enable accurate identification of, and action on clusters of cases as they arise, be that in a school, a classroom, or
throughout the Region.
As you can understand from reading this letter, the shift that is currently occurring throughout the State and the
country represents a completely different approach to managing COVID-19 that goes beyond the discontinuation
of a mask/face covering requirement.
The low incidence of COVID-19 in all of our schools allows us to make the
shift that the CT DPH is recommending. Additionally, the percentage of fully vaccinated individuals in several of
the towns in Region 1 is quite high.
We thank all of you for your caution throughout the pandemic to ensure
everyone’s safety and hope that you will continue to comply with the safety precautions that remain in place.
This letter and the accompanying documents contain much important information.
Thank you for taking the time
to read all of the material. Please reach out to your Principal or to me if you have any questions. We want to
support all of the Region 1 community as we make this transition. Our focus remains on keeping everyone safely
in school at all times.
