Screen and Stay Announcement
Dear East Hartford Community,
Greetings! Last week, in coordination with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), Governor Lamont announced a new initiative titled Screen and Stay. This initiative was developed to provide temporary relief from the frequent quarantine of unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students due to COVID-19 exposures in school settings.
Screen and Stay procedures permit unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students or staff who would otherwise have to quarantine due to an exposure experienced while in school to choose to continue reporting to school for in-person learning or work provided:
●the exposure occurred inside the school building between masked individuals; or
●the exposure occurred between either masked or unmasked individuals in certain supervised outdoor activities; and
●the student or staff person identified as a close contact remains asymptomatic; and
●both the school and family can implement selected procedures to further reduce in-school transmission risk.
Effective immediately, East Hartford Public Schools (EHPS) will offer this Screen and Stay option for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students (K-12) or staff who are considered close contacts/exposed to a COVID-19 case in the school setting. This option will require parents/guardians to sign the Parent/Guardian Attestation for Participation in Screen and Stay and commit to completing a daily symptom assessment for 14 calendar days from exposure. Although allowed to continue in-person learning activities, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated students and staff in the Screen and Stay protocol should follow normal quarantine procedures related to interscholastic or other athletic activities, other extracurricular activities, and any other activities that involve the potential for close contact with individuals outside of the household and that occur outside of the normal school day. Students participating in the Screen and Stay protocol should also refrain from in-school activities with other students that may actively generate increased amounts of aerosol-sized respiratory droplets, including but not limited to singing, wind instrument playing, giving speeches, or highly aerobic Physical Education activities for the 14 calendar days that they are in the Screen and Stay protocol.
In addition, with the recent approvals of the COVID-19 Vaccine for students ages, 5-11, I would continue to encourage you to consult with your trusted medical advisor regarding your family vaccination decisions. EHPS is currently partnering with InterCommunity Health Care and the East Hartford Department of Public Health (EHDPH) to offer a clinic on the following dates:
11/13/21 – 11:00am to 2:00pm
Raymond Library – Meeting Room 1
840 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108
Appointments: 860-291-7324
Walk-ins accepted
11/16/21 – 4:00pm to 7:00pm
Raymond Library – Meeting Room 1
840 Main Street, East Hartford, CT 06108
Appointments: 860-291-7324
Walk-ins accepted
11/20/21 – 9:00am to 1:00pm
InterCommunity Health
287 Main Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
Appointments: 860-569-5900
Thanks as always for your continued efforts to protect the health and safety of our children and community.
Nathan D. Quesnel
Superintendent
East Hartford Public Schools