The following message was sent on March 2, 2022 to families/guardians of students attending our Airline Drive Academy and Maywood School programs:
As you are aware, the statewide universal mask mandate for schools was lifted as of today, March 2, 2022. This means that the majority of students, staff and school visitors are no longer required to wear a mask in our school buildings or school buses. Of course, mask wearing continues to be optional for everyone.
As has been the case for the past two years, health and safety guidance from the state and local health departments related to COVID-19 continues to evolve. While the latest state guidance removes the mask requirement, the following health and safety protocols remain in place:
- Regardless of vaccination status, if a student tests positive for COVID-19 they must isolate for a full five days. Students may return to school after day five if they are asymptomatic or if symptoms are resolving. For days 6-10 following a positive test, students are required to wear a mask in school, including on the school bus. If your child cannot properly wear a mask for the entire school day, they must isolate for the full 10 days.
- Regardless of vaccination status, if a student has been exposed to COVID-19 it is highly recommended they wear a mask for a full 10 days following that exposure.
- State and local health officials continue to recommend testing for COVID-19 following a possible exposure. Free COVID-19 tests are available at school to you or your family. If your child has symptoms and you aren’t sure what to do, or if you need a COVID-19 test kit, please contact:
- Airline Drive Academy—Principal Barb Lounello, barb.lounello@neric.org, or School Nurse Marcie LaPlante at 518-464-6330;
- Maywood School—Principal Gabe Barbato at gabriele.barbato@neric.org or 518-464-6363, or School Nurse Kathy Stone at 518-464-6312.
- Anyone who has symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home from school, regardless of vaccination status or recent infection, until tested and/or isolate for five days.
As always, we remain committed to keeping our students in school, and we will continue to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of illness in our schools. We will also continue our due diligence with regard to notifying impacted staff and families if we learn about a positive case. In most situations, this will involve a general notification alerting staff and families that there was a positive case in a particular class or school.
Thank you for your continued partnership as we work to keep our students and staff healthy, and our students in school.