October 20, 2021
Dear SMCS Families,
Thank you for your continued support this school year. We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we continue to navigate COVID.
As we have communicated from the beginning, our goal continues to be keeping our students in classrooms and learning as safely as possible. We have been monitoring COVID numbers in our area daily and following the updates from the Texas Medical Center and Harris County. For the past couple of weeks, there has been a downward trend in the number of positive cases, positivity rates, hospitalizations, and the number of COVID ICU patients in the Houston area.
After thoughtful consideration, we will give parents the option to “opt-out” of the SMCS mask mandate starting on Monday, November 1, 2021. To support contact tracing, families who choose to “opt-out” of the SMCS mask mandate will be required to fill out this online form by Wednesday, October 27, 2021. No late forms will be accepted. A second “opt-out” date will be given in December of 2021.
Next week, our first quarter ends on Friday, October 29, and we have our Halloween Carnival at 5:30 pm. The new policy taking effect on Monday, November 1, gives our families time to prepare.
We know that COVID remains, and will continue to remain, active in our community. While we hope local COVID numbers continue to decline, we remain concerned about the exposure to COVID for our students and community and anticipate an increase in the number of active cases here on campus. We will continue to maintain all of the other mitigation protocols we have in place for this school year - including contact tracing and quarantining close contacts. Please see this updated protocols document that includes updated information regarding the mask protocols as well as updates to quarantine protocols. Students not wearing a mask will be considered to have been in close contact if within 6 feet of someone who has tested positive for COVID.
In addition, based on new guidance from Harris County Public Health, it may become necessary for masks to be required again if specific thresholds are met, regardless if parents had previously chosen that their child(ren) not wear masks:
If 10% of a classroom tests positive for COVID (approximately 2 students) then students in that classroom will all be required to wear masks for 14 days.
If 10% of a grade tests positive for COVID (approximately 5 students) then students in that grade will all be required to wear masks for 14 days.
If 5% of the whole student body (approximately 25 students) test positive for COVID then all students, in all grade levels will be required to wear masks for 14 days.
It is also possible that SMCS will require students to wear masks for 5 to 10 school days following the
Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. These decisions will be communicated as they are made depending on the level of COVID in our area.
There has been some concern regarding issues of students understanding and respecting the decisions of others with respect to wearing masks (or getting the vaccine). Please spend some time talking with your children about the importance of respecting the decisions of their classmates, parents, teachers, and staff. As Catholics, we respect the dignity of the human person and are called to be Christ-like to all whom we encounter. Any teasing or taunting due to a personal mask choice will be referred to the administration.
Thank you for your continued support, confidence, and trust during this most challenging academic year.
Blessings,
Dr. Kathleen Cox
