Superintendent Thomas Scarice: 

Dear Westport Families,

As we continue to endure the Omicron surge, possibly beginning to now see a leveling off with an expected drop off, I would like to provide some updates regarding current measures, along with some modifications. 

K-8 Recess Universal Masking:  The Governor’s universal masking mandate for schools remains in effect through February 15, 2022.  When we returned from break, we required masking for outdoor recess as a precaution. Given our ability to mitigate in the school environment, and the reduction of the risk factor outdoors, we will remove the K-8 recess masking requirement beginning on Tuesday January 18.  Of course, families may elect to have their child to continue to wear a mask during outdoor recess.

Before & After School Programs:  Before and after school programs were suspended for the first two weeks since the return from the break as a precaution.  Given our ability to mitigate within the school environment, and the need for students to continue with programs outside the school day for their emotional and mental wellness, we will restart our K-8 before and after school programs on Tuesday January 18. 

Expansion of Weekly Serial Testing to Vaccinated Students:  For the past several weeks, the Westport Public Schools have provided the option of a weekly serial COVID-19 testing program for unvaccinated students in grades pre K-6. This program is made available through a collaboration with the State of Connecticut and is free of charge to all families.

This week, we received notification that the screening program would be expanded to include fully vaccinated students as well.

This program is completely voluntary and will require signed parental consent. Students will be out of class no longer than a few minutes and the test itself takes approximately 15 seconds. 

Any student who has had a positive COVID-19 diagnosis within the last 90 days should not be tested.

The test will be an anterior shallow nasal swab PCR test that only includes the lower nasal area.  Each participating child will be tested weekly at school. Parents will be able to create a confidential HIPAA compliant patient portal where their results will be published and stored.  The parent email on the consent form will be the email used to communicate the patient portal information. 

If you would like your unvaccinated or vaccinated child to be part of this weekly testing program  please complete the consent form in this link. If your child was previously signed up and was vaccinated they may have been taken off the list and you may need to re-register your child by providing an additional consent. Testing is planned for each Monday with the next testing date planned for January 24th.

The consent form and frequently asked question page can be found in the following link. https://progressive-diagnostics.com/school-testing/.

School Performances and Concerts:  School performances and concerts were also suspended after the break.  Principals are working with our K-12 Music and Arts Coordinator, Steve Zimmerman, to reschedule these events for in-person experiences.  Each school will develop their own schedules and this information will be communicated to families when dates are confirmed. 

We will continue to monitor conditions as we flexibly employ mitigating measures in response to the pandemic. 

Respectfully,

Thomas Scarice
Superintendent of Schools