Salem Public Schools: Salem Public Schools Fall 2021 Opening Health And Safety Proposal To School Committee

Press release from Salem Public School District:

08/05/2021

August 5, 2021
Haga clic aquí para leer en español Salem Public Schools is making the following recommendations for consideration by the Salem School Committee for a safe and healthy return to school for the 2021-22 school year.  Context : Over the summer, the world, the US, and now Massachusetts have witnessed a change in the COVID-19 pandemic due to the Delta variant. There are two key lessons about this new variant that inform our opening plans: 
The goal of this recommendation is to ensure the safe opening of schools in September and to minimize disruption to learning for our students and their families. We remain confident and committed to fully opening school this fall with in-person learning for all students.  The best way to combat the spread of this virus is to implement a multi-layered approach, as each layer builds upon the others to reduce the probability of the spread of the virus. In addition to the explicit practices below, these layers of mitigation include continued good hygiene practices such as hand washing and hand sanitizing and regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces. We recognize that we may have the opportunity to adjust our plans and strategies depending on the efficacy of our mitigation efforts and the local community spread data in Salem. Recommendation to the SPS School Committee : As a result, based on the advice of our healthcare advisors, Salem Public Schools recommends the following layers of mitigation for consideration at the Monday, August 9th School Committee Meeting: 1. COVID-19 Surveillance Testing : Surveillance testing empowers our district to identify asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases of COVID-19 that may unknowingly be coming into our schools and prevent the spread of the virus. Salem has been at the forefront of staff and student surveillance testing, and we will continue to be. We are working with the state on the exact details for this fall, but we will continue access to weekly surveillance testing for students and staff. All testing will take place in school, including follow-up testing.  2. Supplemental Ventilation : Our HVAC (ventilation) systems ensure the introduction of fresh air or the cleaning and filtering of the air in our schools. We are conducting another review of our HVAC systems and ensuring all of our HEPA filters are updated for the school year. We will also be introducing additional substantial HEPA filters in our cafeterias and we will continue to ensure open air flow whenever possible with open windows on buses and in classes. 
3. Masks : We recommend that all students and staff be required to wear masks to start the year. Due to the level of contagiousness of this variant and the increased possibility for those who are vaccinated to have and spread the virus due to the variant, it is critical to reduce the introduction of small droplets and particles by ensuring all individuals wear masks when inside and on our buses. We saw strong implementation across our schools last year.  4. Meals: SPS will encourage all meals to take place outdoors whenever possible and weather permitting. If meals take place indoors, there will be a minimum of three feet of physical distance between individuals as well as supplemental ventilation in those spaces.  5. Physical Distancing: SPS recommends to relax most physical distancing requirements when other layers of mitigation, including masks, are in place. As noted above, physical distancing requirements of at least three feet will be in place during any meals and mask breaks that take place indoors, and for any higher respiration activities (e.g., chorus, physical education). SPS will work with educators on the detailed recommendation for each of the higher respiration activities pending further guidance from the state.   In addition to the above strategies, we continue to emphasize the importance of the vaccine as the most critical strategy to combat the virus. We are working with our partners to make it available to everyone in our community – including by holding another vaccination clinic this Saturday, August 7 th (sign up here ). For those 12 and over, the vaccine is the most important strategy to reduce the risk of this virus. In addition, the state guidance still enables those who are vaccinated to not quarantine if they are a close contact. We also look forward to collaborating with our union partners and our school nurses and health agents to better understand the extent of vaccination in our school-based community.  Please know that the Salem School Committee will be discussing these recommendations at a special meeting on Monday, August 9th at 4 pm.  Information about how to participate in this meeting can be found in the agenda on the city website . In addition, SPS has been in contact with the Salem Board of Health, which is meeting on Tuesday, August 10th regarding city-wide policies. We will also be hosting a forum for families, staff and community members with district staff and our medical advisors on Tuesday, August 24th from 5:30 to 6:30pm to share more details about our opening of school plans and to answer questions that you might have.   We are grateful to every member of our community – our students, staff, families, and partners. Last year, when we launched our reopening work, we put forward four core values: wellness, equity, flexibility, and community. We have watched as our community has come together to put our students first, lived by these values, and demonstrated our ability to adapt as we learn more about the virus. We appreciate your continued support as we enter a new school year where we are fiercely committed to minimizing disruption for our children and ensuring a healthy, positive, and thriving year for all. Sincerely, Stephen K. Zrike, Jr., Ed.D.

This press release was produced by Salem Public School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.