Canton Public Schools: August 12 School Committee Meeting Recap: Face Coverings Policy, COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies And School Handbo ...

Press release from Canton Public Schools:

Taylor O'Neil

August 19, 2021

The Canton Public Schools would like to share with the school community several notable updates and information provided at the Aug. 12 Canton School Committee meeting.

A recording of the full meeting can be viewed here.

Additional meeting materials, including the Superintendent’s Report and all documents shared at the meeting are available here. 

The District is committed to providing a safe environment in its schools during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), the District will implement a face covering mandate for the beginning of the upcoming 2021-22 school year. To view the District’s face covering policy in full for the beginning of the school year, click here.

Students, staff, faculty and visitors will be required to wear a face mask while inside school buildings, District health offices and on school transportation. Face coverings must also be worn outside when social distancing cannot be observed. Face coverings will not be required when appropriate social distancing is enforced, including: during mask breaks, while eating or drinking, during physical education classes and while outside.

A student’s mask or face covering is to be provided by the student’s family; however, the District will supply disposable face coverings for individuals who arrive at a building or board school transportation without one.

CPS will require all students and all staff to wear masks and or face coverings with 2 or 3 layers that adequately cover both their nose and mouth. Some masks and/or face coverings are not appropriate for the school setting and include bandanas, gaiters (neck scarfs), masks with vents, and masks with inappropriate language in violation of the District dress code.

Those exempt from wearing face coverings include individuals with a medical, behavioral or other challenge making it unsafe to wear a face mask or covering. A written note from a physician is required for a requested exemption and the exemption must be approved by the building principal in consultation with the school nurse or local Board of Health.

The policy will be revisited by the School Committee and Interim Superintendent Folan at the Oct. 7 School Committee Meeting.

Ahead of the upcoming school year, the District has continued to focus on staff and students’ health and safety, and the continuity of learning amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To minimize potential disruptions caused by COVID-19 to the upcoming school year, the District has several mitigation measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

Similar to last year, the District will have air purifiers in every classroom to ensure proper ventilation and windows will be open as well. When possible, the District will conduct classes outdoors as well. To assist with outdoor classes, tents will be set up outside of the school buildings once again for outdoor activities. The District will also once again be utilizing the COVID-19 Dashboard to record the reported number of positive cases in staff and students at each school and the number of school community members in quarantine. To view the District’s COVID-19 Dashboard, click here.

Daily screenings will now be a home-based commitment with students and their families monitoring their health prior to arriving at school. The District recommends that anyone with any symptoms call their respective building’s nurse for consultation prior to entering the school building.

The District will also be conducting COVID-19 testing once again for the 2021-22 academic year. The testing program, funded completely through the state, will offer the district three different testing options including symptomatic testing, safety COVID-19 checks with saliva and nasal swab testing options, and “Test and Stay” which will be rapid tests conducted daily for five days to monitor for COVID-19 rather than quarantine. The District will share additional information about its testing protocols once it has been determined which testing options the District will utilize. Please click HERE for the DESE COVID-19 Response Protocols.

The District will also continue to conduct heightened cleaning and sanitizing practices in all school buildings.

Principals and Central Office staff presented their respective school’s 2021-22 Handbooks and District Appendix for review. All handbooks and the District Appendix were approved by the School Committee as they were written and presented at the meeting. To view all of the updated Handbooks and District Appendix, click here.

This press release was produced by Canton Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.