Superintendent's Messages

Dear Waterford Families, Over the last week, there has been new information released by the CDC, CT Department of Public Health and CT State Department of Education for school districts to follow as it relates to COVID-related issues.

I have also heard from LLHD on this guidance, and I met with fellow superintendents and with our administrators.

As I wrote to you yesterday, I am providing you additional information on new quarantine and isolation recommendations, new protocols for contact tracing in schools and notification of positive cases. Please note that as information and conditions change, the guidelines below may change.

A brief outline of plans developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Public Health (DPH), and the State Department of Education (SDE) are highlighted below.

Contact Tracing - Updated Following Connecticut Department of Public Health guidance, and with the knowledge that in-school exposures pose a relatively low risk as compared to activities outside of school, school districts across the state are no longer required and will no longer be conducting broad contact tracing in PreK-12 schools. We will continue to conduct limited contact tracing as needed in specific cases if the conditions warrant. The state has made this change so that our school nursing and administrative staff are able focus on students who are positive and/or symptomatic as we respond to changing conditions.

This change in contact tracing will result in changes to notifications to you of positive cases in our schools. School administration will now alert families daily of all positive cases and possible class or group-level exposures and parents will be encouraged to monitor symptoms in children. If there are positive cases of students and/or staff in your child’s school, you will be notified on a daily basis.  Elementary Schools – Classroom-level notifications  Middle School – School-wide Notifications indicating Team / Grade-level  High School – School-wide Notifications  Notifications to athletic teams, clubs and other groups as appropriate.

We will also continue to maintain our COVID cases dashboard on our website.

Quarantine & Isolation – Updated Per the CDC and CT DPH, the period of isolation or quarantine following a positive test or notice of exposure will now be five (5) days followed by a return to activities including in-person schooling that requires strict masking for another five (5) days. Athletics will continue to follow current guidelines until further notice. Please refer to the CIAC Sports COVID-19 Guidance for more information on athletics http://www.casciac.org/pdfs/CIACWinter2021-2022COVIDSportGuidanceFinalDraftv4_Approved.pdf.

A full chart, released from the CSDE, on the following page outlines the full scope of the changes in quarantine and isolation.

Keeping our schools safe and open is a team effort. Please help us by:  Screening your child each morning for symptoms  Keeping your child home if he/she is exhibiting symptoms  Alerting us to your child’s positive case  Alerting us if there is a positive case in your home and your child is a household contact  Reiterating the importance of consistent and proper mask-wearing We will keep you informed if and when guidance evolves. Thank you for your continued support and understanding during these challenging times. Reach out to me or your child’s principal with any questions.

Sincerely, Tom Thomas W. Giard II Superintendent

If fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (defined as two weeks after second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or first dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine)

Student/Staff with any COVID-19 symptoms

Student/Staff with no COVID-19 symptoms

Isolate at home.

If notified of a close contact with a COVID-19 case outside of the school day:

Test for COVID-19 (either self-test or at a testing site).

If test result is negative, return to activities when feverfree for at least 24 hrs. and other symptoms are significantly improved.

If test result is positive, isolate for at least 5 days, return to activities on day 6 or later when fever-free for at least 24 hrs. and other symptoms are significantly improved.

Wear a mask at all times when around others for an additional 5 days (i.e., through day 10).

Continue with in-person learning.

Test for COVID-19 (either selftest or at a testing site) 5 days after the exposure.

Consider quarantining for 5days from other activities outside of school, especially if notified of an extended highintensity exposure (e.g., household contact, unmasked social contact, contact during athletic activities).

Wear a mask at all times during any activities when around others for 10 days.

If only partially vaccinated (one dose of a two dose COVID-19 vaccine or within two weeks of final dose) or Unvaccinated or Vaccination status is unknown

If notified of a close contact with a COVID-19 case outside of the school day: Isolate at home for a minimum of 5 days since last exposure to the COVID-19 case.

Test for COVID-19 (either self-test or at a testing site).

Return to activities on day 6 or later when fever-free for at least 24 hrs. and other symptoms are significantly improved.

Wear a mask at all times during any activities when around others for an additional 5 days (i.e., through day 10).

If no known close contact with a COVID-19 case outside of the school day:

If notified of a close contact with a COVID-19 case outside of the school day:

Isolate at home.

Quarantine at home from school, extracurricular activities, and other activities for 5 days from the last exposure to the COVID-19 case.

Test for COVID-19 (either self-test or at a testing site).

If test result is negative, return to activities when fever-free for at least 24 hrs. and other symptoms are significantly improved.

If test result is positive, isolate for at least 5 days after symptoms began, return to activities on day 6 or later when fever-free for at least 24 hrs. and other symptoms are significantly improved, and wear a mask at all times during any activities when around others for an additional 5 days (i.e., through day 10).

Test for COVID-19 (either selftest or at a testing site) 5 days after the exposure.

Wear a mask at all times during any activities when around others for an additional 5 days (i.e., through day 10).