Framingham Public Schools

A New School Year - COVID-19

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Keeping Our Schools Safe for All

We are so excited to be returning to school in person for the upcoming 2021-22 school year! COVID-19 is still with us. We have experienced many changes in our approach to keeping our schools safe through the pandemic and there are multiple perspectives on how to move forward. But the science and data continue to show that a multi-pronged, layered approach is necessary to keep our students, staff, families, and community safe and healthy.

We continue to monitor the incidence of COVID-19 in our community. We will adjust our mitigation strategies and programming to align with new information as it becomes available to assure safe in-person learning for students and staff.

Here are the mitigating strategies we will implement as we begin a new year of in-person learning. These strategies reflect updated information and recommendations from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Framingham Department of Public Health.

Vaccination
Masks/face coverings
Screening/diagnostic testing to promptly identify cases, clusters, and outbreaks
Handwashing
Staying home when sick

Physical distancing
Ventilation
Cleaning and disinfecting
Contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation

You can read more about our mitigation strategies below.

The COVID-19 Vaccine

The COVID-19 vaccine is the leading mitigation strategy to prevent people from getting infected with the virus and transmitting it to others. The available COVID-19 vaccines are very safe and highly effective at preventing infection. Everyone 12 years of age and older is now eligible to get a COVID19 vaccination. Help protect your whole family and our community by getting yourself and your children 12 years and older vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible. You can find information about getting the COVID vaccine in Framingham by visiting the city's website.

If you have the opportunity, please have your eligible child(ren) vaccinated in the next couple of weeks so they can start school with protection against COVID-19.

Walk-In Vaccinations

The City of Framingham Office of Public Health Nursing is offering vaccines. No appointment is necessary. If you have health insurance, please bring your health insurance card with you when you come for your vaccine.

City of Framingham Office of Public Health Nursing

113 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01702

Schedule:

Monday - Friday: 8:30 - 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday - Thursday: 5 - 7 p.m.

Face coverings/masks are required to be worn at all times in the clinic. Face coverings/masks will be available for visitors. Questions about nursing services can be directed to Kitty Mahoney, kcm@framinghamma.gov, or 508-532-5472.

School-based Vaccine Clinics for Students

In September, the district will provide COVID vaccine clinics for our students 12 years of age and older on site at each of our middle schools and the high school. The dates of the vaccine clinics are:

Framingham High School and Walsh Middle School - 9/17 (first dose); 10/7 (second dose)
Fuller Middle School and Cameron Middle School - 9/24 (first dose); 10/15 (second dose)

Parents/guardians will need to complete a written consent form for each student ages 12 years to 18 years to receive the vaccine at the clinics. More information about the clinics including the consent forms will be provided at the start of school in September.

Masks/Face Coverings

When teachers, staff, and students consistently and correctly wear a mask, they protect others as well as themselves. Consistent and correct mask use is an extremely effective strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

For the upcoming 2021-22 school year, the district will mandate universal masking for all students Pre-K-12 and staff in school, regardless of vaccination status, for the following reasons:

A significant portion of the student population is not eligible for vaccination
Universal masking protects unvaccinated students/staff from COVID-19 and reduces transmission
There is a lack of an efficient system to monitor vaccine status among students, teachers and staff
Potential difficulty exists in monitoring or enforcing mask policies for those who are not vaccinated; in the absence of schools being able to conduct this monitoring, universal masking is the best and most effective strategy to create consistent messages, expectations, enforcement, and compliance without the added burden of needing to monitor vaccination status
Continued concerns exists for the development of additional variants that are more easily spread among children, adolescents, and adults

An added benefit of universal masking is protection of students and staff against seasonal flu and other respiratory illnesses that can take students away from learning. Below is the FPS Mask/Face Covering protocol for Fall 2021.

All students (pre-K to 12) and all school staff must wear face masks throughout the school day indoors, regardless of vaccination status (except students who cannot do so due to medical conditions or behavioral needs).
Masks may be removed while eating indoors and during mask breaks.
All students and staff are required to wear masks on school buses at all times.
Masks are not necessary outdoors.
If levels of COVID transmission rise in the Framingham community, wearing a mask is recommended in crowded outdoor settings or activities that involve continuous close contact with others who may not be fully vaccinated.
All visitors are required to wear masks when inside a school building.

Routine COVID Safety Checks (COVID-19 Testing)

Screening (pooled) testing identifies students/staff infected with COVID-19. Screening (pooled) testing can detect people with or without symptoms (or before development of symptoms), who may or may not be vaccinated and may be contagious. In our schools, screening (pooled) testing will help to promptly identify and isolate cases, quarantine those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and are not fully vaccinated, and identify clusters to reduce the risk to in-person learning.

Diagnostic testing, such as the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test, is an important tool for use in testing asymptomatic close contacts. Diagnostic testing is especially important this year as we head into cold and flu season.

The district is consulting with the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to re-establish our robust COVID-19 screening (pooled) testing program across all schools. Both screening (pooled) and diagnostic testing will be available to students and staff.

We will provide you with the elements of the screening (pooled) and diagnostic testing program once all of the details have been determined.

Handwashing/Sanitizing

Handwashing is easy and one of most effective ways to protect yourself and your family from getting sick. It is an important step in decreasing spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 and other infectious illnesses like the common cold and flu. Clean hands can stop germs from spreading from one person to another and throughout an entire community

Handwashing should occur before and after:

Eating food
Handling your mask
After using the restroom
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
Touching your eyes, nose, or mouth

Hands should be washed for at least 20 seconds with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if soap and water are not available and can be accessed in all classrooms and common areas of the school.

Staying Home When Sick

Staying home when not feeling well, especially when experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 is essential to keep COVID-19 infections out of schools and prevent spread to others. Students, teachers, and staff who have symptoms of infectious illness, such as COVID-19 or influenza (flu) should stay home and contact their healthcare provider for testing and care, regardless of vaccination status.

Physical Distancing

Due to the current low level of community spread, the district will not require physical distancing for students at this time. When students are not masked, all efforts will be made to allow for increased physical distance, when possible.

Ventilation

Adequate ventilation is an important COVID-19 prevention strategy that can reduce the number of virus particles in the air. Along with other preventive strategies, including wearing masks, bringing fresh outdoor air into a building helps keep virus particles from concentrating inside. The district will ensure that ventilation systems in each school operate properly and air exchange is effective. Portable air purifiers are located in classrooms and other recommended areas that require increased air purification. Staff will increase circulation of outdoor air as much as possible by opening windows and doors, using fans, and other methods.

Cleaning and Disinfecting

Our dedicated custodial staff from the Department of Buildings and Grounds will continue their cleaning efforts.

Contact Tracing, Quarantine, and Isolation

The district is currently considering contact tracing, quarantine/isolation guidance from the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in consultation with the Framingham Department of Public Health. We will provide an update on the district’s quarantine and isolation protocol soon.