Face coverings will continue to be available through your school’s custodian engineer. Teachers may continue to ask for a KN95 mask; school should give one to any staff member who asks. These masks are to be used for five days. Custodian engineers have adult-sized KN95 masks available for staff and for students who can tolerate a high-grade mask; they also have three-ply surgical masks for students who cannot tolerate a high-grade mask, including younger students.
Face coverings are required:
- Face coverings after return from 5-day isolation or quarantine: Anyone returning on Day 6 after a positive COVID-19 diagnosis or after having COVID-19 symptoms without testing is still required to wear a well-fitting face covering (such as a KN95, KF94, or a surgical mask under a cloth mask) at all times on school property through Day 10. If the individual is unable to wear a well-fitting face covering for the duration of the school day, the individual must continue to isolate for 10 days.
- Face coverings for Early Childhood: The indoor face covering mandate is still active for LYFE, EarlyLearn (Infants & Toddlers), 3-K, Pre-K, and 4410 classrooms. Children two years old and older, and all staff in these classrooms, must continue to follow the same masking requirements whether they are in a district school, CBO, or home-based program. Since children under the age of five are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine, face coverings remain our strongest defense against COVID-19 for early childhood populations.
- Face coverings in medical rooms/nurses’ offices: Wearing a face covering is still required in medical rooms/nurses’ offices, as well as in School Based Health Centers. Nurses will have face coverings on hand for anyone entering who needs one.
Face coverings are strongly recommended:
- Face coverings following exposure: It is strongly recommended that face coverings be worn when an individual has been exposed or potentially exposed at school (in the same room for 15 minutes or longer with a person who tested positive for COVID-19). Face coverings are also strongly recommended if an individual knows they have been exposed to COVID-19 in any setting within the previous 10 days.