Happy December, Westview,
As we have communicated from the beginning, our primary concern is the health and safety of our students and our staff and keeping our students in school. We continue to monitor the Covid situation closely. While news of yet another new variant is breaking, we want to recognize that the last month has brought several positive developments on the Covid front.
First, Harris County has finally moved back to Level 3 (Moderate Threat) for the first time since July, as the number of positive cases and hospitalizations have declined. Second, vaccines are now available to children ages five and up. Taken together, we believe that it is time to reevaluate some of our Covid protocols, specifically:
MASKS
Assuming cases in Harris County remain at a Moderate level, we plan to transition to mask optional for all staff and students effective Monday, January 24, 2022. This date would allow any family who would like to have their child fully vaccinated to do so. After this date, masks will be strongly encouraged but not required for staff and students.
TRAVEL AND EXPOSURE QUARANTINES (FULLY VACCINATED)
Effective immediately, fully vaccinated individuals are not required to quarantine after travel or an exposure. (NOTE: Fully vaccinated is defined as two weeks after the 2nd vaccine.) Fully vaccinated individuals are encouraged to take a PCR test 3-5 days after travel/exposure and must closely monitor their health for the development of symptoms. We ask that families provide a copy of vaccine records so that we can apply the appropriate policy.
ON-CAMPUS GATHERINGS
On-campus in-person gatherings and community events may be permitted when it is possible to maintain 6 feet of physical distance. If these conditions cannot be met, the gathering will be held outdoors or virtually.
We know that Covid remains, and will continue to remain, active in our community. While we hope that local numbers continue to decline, we are aware of new variants and remain concerned about the potential for exposure for our students and staff.
The following protocols will not change at this time:
HEALTH SCREENINGS
All staff and students will continue to complete the health screener and undergo daily temperature checks upon arrival at school. It continues to be vitally important that ALL members of our community routinely monitor their health and stay home when they are sick.
CLASSROOM VISITORS
Our classrooms are simply not large enough to safely accommodate large numbers of visitors. As such, visitation will continue to be limited to essential and pre-scheduled visitors, including individuals who have been pre-approved and complete the requisite health screening.
SANITIZATION
We will continue to clean, disinfect, and fog nightly with hospital-grade disinfectants as a precautionary measure. In addition, every classroom is equipped with an air purifier, hand sanitizer, and other cleaning and disinfecting supplies.
TRAVEL AND EXPOSURE QUARANTINES (NOT FULLY VACCINATED)
Individuals who are NOT fully vaccinated and travel by plane or take a cruise, as well as those who have a known exposure, will be required to quarantine seven days (with a negative PCR Covid test) or ten days without a test. We will continue to monitor changes in these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Harris County Public Health Department.
This is a fluid situation and one that we will continue to monitor closely. We reserve the right to make changes as necessary to protect our students and staff. We really do appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this together. There are many positive developments on the horizon, including potential treatments, and I hope that we can get back to normal sooner rather than later. Plato is credited with saying necessity is the mother of invention. It is my sincere belief that we will emerge from this period even better than we were before. We have learned a LOT about ourselves, the resilience of our students, the commitment of our staff, the importance of teamwork, and how much our families appreciate the work that we do.
We thank you for your continued support, confidence, and trust. Together we remain Westview Strong.
