Thursday, February 17, 2022

Good afternoon HUUSD families & staff:

We are encouraged by state-wide trends and predictions regarding COVID-19.  We appreciate your ongoing support and patience as we continue to navigate changes. In anticipation of the upcoming winter break, we are sharing some information about our planned response to COVID-19 upon our return to school. 

COVID-19 TESTING   Each student and staff member will be given an antigen kit (includes 2 tests) to use on Monday Feb 28 and Tuesday March 1,  prior to the return to school on March 2.  All are encouraged to submit their test results to the Vermont Department of Health at this link. If either test comes back positive, the student/staff should stay home. Please complete the HUUSD positive case reporting form if your child/ staff member tests positive for COVID-19. 

While school is in recess, from February 19 - March 1, individuals should utilize the state-wide COVID-19 testing and support system for testing and questions regarding COVID-19. Our HUUSD COVID-19 website is a resource, but your health care providers and the Vermont Department of Health are your primary resources over the school vacation.

After the break, students and staff will continue to have access to antigen testing when they are identified as a close contact.  Response testing will continue for those who become symptomatic in school. The district has received a supply of LAMP tests (similar to a PCR, but with results available to testers within an hour)  and will use this testing tool for those who become symptomatic at school. As with all response testing, the LAMP test is optional and parent permission is required. If you have already granted permission for response testing, you do not need to do so again. If you have not yet granted permission, you can find information on registration here.

CONTACT TRACING AND CASE REPORTING     If your child tests positive for COVID-19 over the break, please complete the HUUSD positive case reporting form.  The district will be using this information to inform decision making upon return from the break.  You can find out more information about testing, isolation, quarantine and what to do if you are a close contact on the HUUSD COVID website.

The school district will not be conducting contact tracing during the school vacation, nor distributing tests to students and staff.  The only exception will be student athletes participating in school sponsored sports activities during vacation.  A student athlete testing positive for COVID-19 should complete the HUUSD positive case reporting form and reach out to their respective coach. 

MASKING IN SCHOOLS    As COVID-19 cases decline throughout our country and state,  mask wearing has been at the forefront of discussions. The Vermont Agency of Education has indicated the recommendation for masking in schools to be lifted for schools with an 80% or higher vaccination rate at the end of this month. Meanwhile, the Center for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics continue to recommend mask wearing in schools. For a variety of reasons,  HUUSD will be continuing the expectation of mask wearing, while indoors, for the first week and a half (8 student days) after we return from the February winter break.

• We have seen a surge of COVID cases after every school vacation,  when students and staff may travel and or come into contact with a greater variety of people than while school is in session. Continuing masking, our primary COVID mitigation tool,  through March 11th  will allow us an opportunity to review case counts during and immediately following the school break before making  our local decision.
• During the month of January, we averaged 40-65 positive cases among staff and students. The first two weeks of February have seen 15-20 positive cases. 
• Fayston, Harwood, Crossett Brook, and Waitsfield are 80% or greater with vaccination rates. Warren is nearly there, and Moretown and Brookside are further away. 
• Keeping schools open, and students in school, is a top priority. We continue to have students and staff miss school/work due to having COVID, colds and other illness, as well as a significant shortage of substitute teachers and positions that remain unfilled.  Again, we want to review case counts during and immediately following the February break for data confirmation that we will not be contributing to greater interruption to student learning through increased student and staff absences. 
• Complexities arise if masking is lifted in schools which require time to work out with the VDH, AOE and other agencies. These include:  1) masks continue to be federally required on buses, even if masking is lifted in schools;   2) the VDH directs close contacts to mask for 10 days after the point of exposure to COVID-19.  A significant number of students are identified as close contacts each week which can lead to confusion about who should be masking and when; 3) preschool students and staff fall under different regulations that do not align with school guidance. None of these challenges are insurmountable, but we need time to clarify expectations with these agencies. 
• VT Secretary of Education Dan French indicated on Tuesday that schools need time to prepare students and families for a change. When wearing a mask becomes optional, we know students will be more successful if we can prepare students to understand what that will look like and how we can best support one another as a community. Given that we anticipate at least 4 of our 7 schools meet the criteria of 80% vaccination, staff in these schools need time to prepare students and families. 
• If we make a premature decision to allow masks to be removed, potentially increasing the opportunity to spread COVID in our schools, we may run the risk of cancellations and/or difficulties with co-curricular activities, field trips, the prom and graduation. Waiting 8 more student days, after wearing masks for 2+ years, seems prudent and a reasonable compromise to be sure of this very important decision. 

We are encouraged by the positive direction that we seem to be headed with this virus. As such, we are removing, effective upon return to school on March 2, the expectation of masking while outdoors.  In the past week, spectators have returned to school concerts and sporting events, in-person meetings have been restored, and restrictions connected to contact tracing in lunchrooms have been lifted. 

We ask for your patience and understanding as we approach our indoor mask wearing decision in a cautious, incremental manner. As Education Secretary Dan French shared this week, “ We prefer to make incremental steps as we have done throughout the pandemic.”  Our HUUSD team will review data for a full week (8 student days) after the return to school and share a decision regarding any further changes in masking thereafter, with  the expectation that any change would go into effect March 14th.  

Again,  we appreciate your patience and support of your children and our school community as we move from a state of “pandemic response” to that of a COVID endemic presence in our lives.  We actively listen to all points of view shared with us. That said, we serve our 6 town community, where like the state, there are many differing opinions and positions.