Superintendent's Message July 28, 2021

Good morning

The Connecticut State Department of Public Health has released interim guidance for schools.  The intent of the guidance is to help schools prepare for the 21-22 school year.  Please note that this is interim guidance and some portions may change prior to late August.

You can find the guidance here: https://www.fairfieldschools.org/fs/resource-manager/view/f6809917-c7b0-470d-b242-bf0dcd47506a

Essentially the guidance maintains many of the conditions with which we ended the year.  At this moment, masking (slide 4) is still required in schools.  Masks are also required on school buses.  There are two important changes however

Cohorting (slide 5) is no longer a requirement but it will be considered as part of layered mitigation strategies.  In other words, if distancing has to be less than 3 feet or students are without masks (lunchroom) then cohorting must be considered.

Quarantine guidance (slide 9) has changed.  Students in a classroom setting who are at least 3 feet apart, masked and asymptomatic, will no longer need to quarantine if another student tests positive in that classroom.  The 6-foot distance remains in place for adults.

We expect the school year to begin on time with the our regular schedules – every student on every day.

The Fairfield Public Schools and the Fairfield Health Department will hold a webinar on Tuesday evening, August 3, from 7:00 to 8:15 pm. 

We will only address questions submitted in advance of the meeting.  You can submit your questions here: -https://forms.gle/oaDWwCVwcKcQkCND9.  Information and guidance is likely to continue to evolve up to and past this webinar.  We will keep the questions open until 5 pm on August 3.  Communication on any changes will continue through the rest of the summer and the school year.

The webinar can be viewed here - https://youtu.be/e_cnXyiS7Rs

Take care,

Mike

Michael Cummings

Superintendent of Schools