New Canaan Students Expected To Wear Masks In School Buildings

NEW CANAAN, CT — As of this week, New Canaan Public Schools students and staff, including those who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, will be required to wear masks in school buildings when the 2021-22 school year begins later this month.

In a recent message to families, Superintendent Bryan Luizzi said the decision was made due to an executive order in effect until Sept. 30 requiring "universal masking by all individuals in school buildings," regardless of their vaccination status.

"When schools closed in June, we were cautiously optimistic that the positive trends would continue," Luizzi said in his message, "unfortunately, the [coronavirus] Delta variant reversed the positive direction of those trends, and case numbers are increasing at an accelerating rate. This situation, like so many throughout the pandemic, continues to evolve quickly, and we are monitoring it constantly."

Masks will not be required when students or staff are outdoors, and the district encourages everyone to go outside during breaks, lunches and any other appropriate times.

Students and staff will also be required to wear masks on school buses, regardless of their vaccination status, due to a federal order from the Center for Disease Control requiring mask use on all public transportation, Luizzi said.

"The purpose of all mitigation strategies is to minimize the likelihood of viral spread in the event of a positive case, and social distancing and masking are among the most effective of these strategies," Luizzi said. "We will continue to maximize social distancing in our classrooms and instructional spaces, which also reduces the frequency of quarantines for unvaccinated students by reducing the number of close contacts."

Luizzi noted the state Department of Public Health does not currently require vaccinated students who are asymptomatic to quarantine in the event of a potential exposure to the virus. An unvaccinated student who is deemed a close contact of someone who tests positive for the virus, however, is expected to quarantine from all activities outside the home, regardless of their symptoms.

"If you have not yet been vaccinated," Luizzi said, "there are many compelling reasons to do so as quickly as possible."

The first day of school for NCPS students is Aug. 30. Luizzi said everyone is expected to attend school in-person this year, as school districts are currently not authorized to offer distance learning as an option.

See also: Back To School: New Canaan 2021-22 School Calendar

"We've prepared well for a full return," Luizzi said, "as we demonstrated last year, by working together to implement the mitigation strategies, continually monitoring and adjusting our approach and communicating clearly and frequently, we can keep our community safe, our schools open, and our classrooms full of actively engaged students and staff."

Luizzi's message can be read in full here.

Patch has reached out the New Canaan Board of Education for further information.