September 1, 2021
Dear Pavilion Central School District Family Members:
We are excited to welcome students and staff back to school starting with our staff day on September 7th and with all students returning on September 8th. Amid ongoing COVID-19 concerns, the District will continue to prioritize the health and safety of all its family members, and the preservation of in-person instruction during the 2021 – 2022 school year. The following protocols have been developed in consultation with the Genesee County Department of Health (GCDOH).
Instruction
The District is committed to the safe return of ALL its students to in-person instruction. Federal and state governments and agencies have committed significant resources to sustain in-person learning. The District will proceed with its in-person instructional model for ALL its students for the 2021 – 22 school year.
Health Screening
The District will not require daily health screenings. Parents/guardians will be responsible for screening their students for symptoms of COVID-19 prior to boarding District transportation or entering District facilities. Employees and visitors are responsible for monitoring themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 prior to entering District facilities. Individuals who develop COVID-19 symptoms at school or work may be sent home.
Symptoms of COVID-19:
A temperature greater than or equal to 100.0° F (37.8° C)
Feel feverish or have chills
Cough
Loss of taste or smell
Fatigue/feeling of tiredness
Sore throat
Shortness of breath or trouble breathing
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
Muscle pain or body aches
Headaches
Nasal congestion/ runny nose
Please click here for a flow chart from GCDOH for individuals with COVID-19 symptoms.
COVID-19 Vaccination
The District will continue to support students, staff, faculty and administration who are interested in obtaining COVID-19 vaccines. Information regarding COVID-19 vaccines may be found at:
CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html
New York State: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/
Genesee County: https://gohealthny.org/covid-19-vaccine-information/
The District WILL NOT mandate COVID-19 vaccines for its students, staff, faculty and administration.
Contact Tracing and Quarantine
The District will support the GCDOH’s COVID-19 spread mitigation efforts by implementing the following contact tracing and quarantine protocols:
A close contact is an individual who was within six (6) feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of fifteen (15) minutes or more over a twenty-four (24)-hour period.
Contact tracing will include the forty-eight (48)-hour period prior to the onset of symptoms of the confirmed COVID-19 positive individual or date of the confirmed COVID-19 positive individual’s test if asymptomatic.
Close contacts will be quarantined per the GCDOH’s direction.
An individual will be excluded from the quarantine requirement if:
both the infected individual and close contact individual correctly and consistently wore well-fitting face coverings the entire time of the close contact.
he/she is fully vaccinated and asymptomatic.
The District must have documentation of vaccination on file prior to the initiation of a contact trace for an individual to be excluded from the quarantine requirement.
he/she was previously diagnosed with COVID-19 within the last ninety (90) days.
GCDOH flow charts for contact tracing: Unvaccinated with Symptoms Vaccinated with Symptoms
Testing
The District is currently not requiring any asymptomatic or symptomatic testing for students, teachers, and staff. That being said, the District has been working in conjunction with GCDOH to secure BinaxNOW COVID-19 Testing kits to use for asymptomatic students, teachers and staff. We are also working to get Abbott PCR tests to use for symptomatic students, teachers and staff. Offering both COVID-19 tests could save students, teachers, and staff money and time in trying to secure a test with their doctor or local health department. Another positive is that both tests require only a lower nasal swab. The BinaxNOW or Abbott tests WILL NOT BE USED ON STUDENTS WITHOUT VERBAL PARENTAL CONSENT.
Physical Distancing
The District will adhere to the CDC’s recommendation of three (3) feet of physical distance within classrooms to the best extent possible.
Face Coverings
On August 27, 2021, the NYSDOH issued the following in accordance with the Commissioner's Determination issued pursuant to 10 NYCRR 2.60, that any person over the age of 2 (including all students, personnel, teachers, administrators, contractors, and visitors) must wear masks at all times indoors in P-12 school buildings, regardless of vaccination status. Mask breaks will be incorporated into school schedules.
Students with medical or developmental conditions that prevent them from wearing a mask may be exempted from mask requirements, as documented by a medical provider. The medical exemption form can be found here: Medical Mask Exemption Form
Students do not/may not need to wear masks when eating, drinking, singing, or playing a wind instrument; when masks are removed for these purposes, we will implement physical distancing to the extent possible within these structures.
Transportation
The following protocols have been developed to provide our safest environment on our buses:
Capacity on District transportation will return to loading limits as prescribed by the sizes and types of the New York State Department of Transportation defined motor vehicles transporting school-age passengers to and from schools.
Face coverings are required for ALL individuals riding District transportation. This is congruent with current public transportation procedures. (This includes all extra-curricular transportation.)
Parents/guardians may elect to transport their students to and from school.
Food Service
Students will eat their meals in the District’s cafeterias during their prescribed lunch times.
Extra-curricular Activities
The District is planning for ALL extra-curricular activities for the 2021 – 22 school year. The aforementioned section on ‘Face Coverings’ will apply to ALL District-sponsored activities and events occurring on District property. Please note the following protocols:
Masking is required on all transportation.
Masking is required indoors.
Masking is not required outdoors at this time.
There are no spectator capacity limits for indoor or outdoor extracurricular activities or sporting events at this time.
Our goal is to keep students and staff healthy and in session all day, every day, all year.
The District is in constant contact with the GCDOH and regional school districts. Circumstances beyond our control may necessitate adjustment(s) to the aforementioned protocols.
Again, we are excited to welcome our students and staff back to campus next week!
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!
Sincerely,
Kate Hoffman
Superintendent of Schools