Parents Reminded Distance Learning “Not An Option” Due To Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
BY: COVID DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2021 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The Palm Beach County School District early Friday afternoon affirmed its new mask mandate and updated its quarantine policy in an email sent to nearly 200,000 families.
This is the message transmitted district-wide:
Dear Parents and Guardians:
The health, safety, and security of our students and staff remain the top priority for the School District of Palm Beach County.
As such, on Wednesday, August 18, 2021, the School Board approved a policy, making facial coverings mandatory for students in District-operated schools. This measure takes effect on Monday, August 23, 2021. Opt-out letters previously submitted will no longer be honored.
The only exception to this facial covering requirement is for students with ADA or 504 Plan accommodations. If your child requires an exemption from the mask requirement due to a documented disability, please submit a request for an accommodation along with a note from a licensed medical physician documenting the need for the requested accommodation to the school’s 504 coordinator.
The current policy, as approved on August 18, will remain in place for up to 90 days. However, the Board will periodically reassess the policy.
Additionally, due to an increase in the number of positive COVID-19 cases on our campuses, and the number of students who may have been exposed, the precautionary Stay-Home Directive that is in place while the Department of Health conducts contact tracing, has been modified.
In an effort to streamline this process and allow healthy children to return to school as quickly as possible, the following guidelines have been established.
Effective immediately for students who receive a Stay-Home Directive:
If your child is not exhibiting symptoms (asymptomatic), and fully vaccinated (two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series), or has tested positive in the last 90 days, they WILL NOT be required to stay at home.
If you, as the Parent or Guardian, provide documentation that your child is fully vaccinated, your child can remain at school, or return, upon providing proof of vaccination.
Or, if your child had a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 90 days and you provide proof of the confirmed case, your child can return to school immediately.
In addition, your child can return to school if he or she meets one of the following criteria:
- The student is asymptomatic and receives a negative diagnostic COVID-19 test after four days from the date of last exposure to the COVID-19 positive individual. The student can return on day five with a negative result from a test performed in a laboratory or by a medical provider. Any results from a “home test” will NOT be accepted. (email/copy/screenshot acceptable for each). -OR-
- The student is asymptomatic and seven days have passed since the date of last exposure to the COVID-19 positive individual.
If your child is symptomatic or COVID-19 positive, one of the following criteria must be met:
- Student receives a negative test and is asymptomatic.
- Ten days have passed since symptom onset or positive test result, the student has no fever for 24 hours and the student’s other symptoms are improving.
- The student receives written permission from a healthcare provider to return to school.
For students under a Stay-Home Directive, the chart below is a visual representation of the process under which they will be allowed to return.
Should your child need to be placed on a Stay-Home Directive by the School District of Palm Beach County, or quarantined by the Health Department, the District has created a webpage that provides important guidance regarding instructional support.
Please visit https://www.palmbeachschools.org/stayhomeinstruction.
This webpage will also be available on the District’s Homepage and on every school’s website.
As a reminder, the Governor’s Executive Order which allowed Distance Learning during the 2020-2021 school year has ended. That means that distance learning is not an option this school year.
Numerous safety procedures take place in District schools including, but not limited to, social distancing when possible, increased sanitization, MERV-13 filters installed in all compatible units, portable air purifiers brought into classrooms, electrostatic sprayers in place at every school, and much more.
In addition to notifying students who may have been exposed to a person with a positive case, each principal also issues a schoolwide notification when there is a positive case on campus.
Parents and Guardians, we must all play a role in mitigating the transmission of COVID-19. Please DO NOT send children to school if they are sick and are presenting symptoms including, but not limited to: fever, cough, sore throat, diarrhea, headache, body ache, shortness of breath, fatigue, loss of appetite and sense of smell, runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, and other flu-like symptoms.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s school.
