Office of the Superintendent of Schools

Dear Parents: We would like to thank all parents, students, teachers, and staff members for making our first full return to school from the pandemic a very successful one! We have all of our students in person with our teachers for the first time in 16 months. I am happy to report that classroom instruction and health and safety measures are working well to keep our schools open. With this in mind, we do have some updated guidance regarding student quarantining as many questions have arisen.

We have asked and received information from our Chief Medical Inspector, Dr. Frank, along with the Somerset County Health Department, regarding quarantine time frames. As of today, we will be following the below guidelines for students with a positive case of COVID-19 in their household.

Unvaccinated Students:

• Quarantine would begin after the case’s 10-day isolation period ends. So, non-symptomatic household members should quarantine for 20 days and return on day 21.
• If you do not wish to have your child tested, they can quarantine for 10 days after the 10-day isolation period ends as per the current guidance and return on day 21.
• Current guidance recommends the household close contact can be tested 5-7 days after the case’s isolation period ends (day 15-17) and can return on day 18 with a negative test result. Please provide this result to your school nurse before returning.

Vaccinated Students:

• Requires testing 3-5 days after exposure. No quarantine is required, but, they should still monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 for 14 days following an exposure.

We appreciate your cooperation and support as we return to full-time schooling for our students. Please remember that our protocols are in place to keep our students, employees, and visitors safe and healthy while at our schools and to help us provide a traditional school year for our students.

On another note, the district has been working with the police department to avoid some of the congestion on Cherry Avenue for the dismissal of students. The police department is instituting a one-way street plan in the next few days that should help with the congestion in the area. We thank all of our parents and community members for their patience and support as we work out a better system for traffic in this area.

Thank you for your support and assistance during this time. It is greatly appreciated by all of our staff and Board of Education Members.

Truly,

Daniel Gallagher, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools