
@HSD Health Update
August 10, 2021 (UPDATED 8/26)
Summary School Opening COVID Safety Protocols for Start of School Year
PK-12 Masking Requirements
- Per Governor Murphy's Executive Order 251, all students, educators, staff, and visitors will be required to wear face masks indoors for the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Effective Monday, August 9, 2021, masks are required in the indoor premises of all Haddonfield School District buildings, with limited exceptions, outlined here.
- Masks are required on school buses, regardless of vaccination status.
- Masks are not required when outdoors.
- For those medically unable to wear a face covering, a medical note by a licensed healthcare provider must be submitted to the school nurse for review/final approval by the district physician. Once such a note is submitted to the school nurse, the district will make a final determination within 7 working days.
School Schedules
All HSD public schools will run on a normal schedule to start the 2021-22 School Year.
Lunches
- Similar lunch protocols that were successfully employed at the end of 2020-21 will be in effect, with some exceptions: a) school will run traditional lunch periods; b) physical distancing will be at least 3 feet.
- School lunches will be free for all students until the end of the 2021-22 School Year (no paperwork, income verification, etc.).
- Snacks and lunches will be eaten outdoors to the greatest extent possible and when weather conditions permit (3 feet of physical distancing).
- In order to accommodate physical distancing, elementary students will again eat on the floor and be provided with a raised lunch tray. Floors will be sanitized before and after each lunch period.
- When the heat index is anticipated to be above 90 F, elementary students will eat lunch indoors.
Screening, Communication and School Exclusion
- Completion of daily screening required for students and staff
- HSD will continue to send COVID notifications for COVID+ cases and maintain the COVID+ dashboard to document current cases, in addition to timely messages from @HSD Health.
- Parents are implored to contact the school nurse when a student and/or family member is COVID+. This is the primary means by which the district is made aware of positive cases.
- Students excluded from school for being in close contact with a COVID+ individual, and/or are COVID+ will have the option to receive remote instruction within 24-hours of being excluded.
- Students displaying COVID-like symptoms without a medical diagnosis of COVID will have the option to received remote instruction after 3 consecutive days missed.
- In the PreK–12 indoor classroom setting, the close contact definition excludes students within 6 feet of an infected student (laboratory-confirmed or a clinically compatible illness) where both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore masks the entire time.
- Even though students that meet the close contact definition will not likely be required to be excluded from school, courtesy close contact notices will still be sent to families.
- General COVID+ notices and COVID+ Dashboard will continue to remain in effect.
Exploration of In-District Pooled COVID Testing Screening
HSD is currently exploring pooled COVID testing during the 2021-22 school year in partnership with a medical lab certified by the College of American Pathologists.
What is Pooled Testing?
- Pooled testing means combining the same type of specimen from several people and conducting one laboratory test on the combined pool of specimens to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
- Pooled tests that return positive results will require each specimen in the pool to be retested individually to determine which individual(s) are positive.
- Testing would most likely occur in the home and be designated only for non-vaccinated individuals.
According to the CDC, school testing gives communities, schools, and families assurance that schools could remain open safely for all students and staff. Testing helps keep COVID transmission low and students in school for in-person learning, sports, and extra-curricular activities by identifying infections early.
NO STUDENT OR STAFF MEMBER WOULD PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM WITHOUT CONSENT. PARTICIPATION WOULD BE OPTIONAL. A DECISION ON THIS HAS NOT BEEN MADE.
Survey to Learn About Parent Interest in a COVID Testing Program
Please click here to indicate your interest in an in-district COVID testing program for your non-vaccinated student.
Athletics
- Masking is not required for students while participating in athletics (regardless of vaccination status).
- Student-athletes are required to wear masks only when indoors when not engaged in high-intensity aerobic activity, and when on school buses.
Haddonfield School District
Email: gpriolo@haddonfield.k12.nj.us
Website: https://haddonfieldschools.org/
Location: 1 Lincoln Avenue, Haddonfield, NJ, USA
Phone: 856-429-7510
Facebook: facebook.com/HaddonfieldSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @HaddonSchools