Since the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has been closely
monitoring local COVID-19 conditions and following the guidance of the Centers
for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) and medical experts when developing
protocols to ensure the health and safety of our students and employees. Due to
a surge in COVID-19 cases during the holidays, driven by the highly contagious
Omicron variant, M-DCPS is modifying its existing protocols.
Beginning Monday, January 3,
2022, and until further notice, the following protocols will be implemented:
·
All M-DCPS employees,
volunteers, visitors, vendors, and contractors will be required to wear facial
coverings while indoors at any District school or facility.
·
Transportation employees
will also be required to wear facial coverings while transporting children.
·
Facial coverings will
not be mandated for students, but they will continue to be highly encouraged as
this practice provides an additional layer of protection against COVID-19.
·
All spectators at school
sporting events will be required to wear facial coverings.
·
Protocols for the
enhanced sanitization and cleaning of classrooms and common areas, which were
implemented at the beginning of the pandemic, will continue.
Self-isolation
and quarantine protocols for students will remain the same. However, in accordance with newly released guidance from the CDC, any
M-DCPS employee who tested positive for COVID-19 prior to December 29 and is
asymptomatic or has symptoms that are resolving
(no fever for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication) can
return to work on January 3.
Prior
to sending their children to school, parents/guardians are asked to complete
the At-Home Daily Student Health Screening which can be found at http://pdfs.dadeschools.net/reopening/Parent_At_Home_Daily_Student_Health_Screening-English.pdf. Parents of students who are home self-isolating or quarantining
due to exposure to COVID-19 should contact their children’s teachers for makeup
assignments and links for remote access via Teams or Zoom. More information about remote learning
options during quarantine can be found at ICP.dadeschools.net.
Frequent handwashing, social
distancing, COVID-19 testing, and vaccination will continue to be encouraged. Additionally,
the District will leverage its existing partnerships with local health and
municipal entities to further expand COVID-19 testing and vaccinations in our
schools.
M-DCPS
will analyze available data on local conditions each week and follow the
guidance of medical experts to identify opportunities for additional
adjustments to its health and safety protocols.
For
the most up-to-date information, please download the Dadeschools Mobile App to
your iPhone or Android device. Follow us
on Twitter @mdcps and @miamisup, on Instagram @miamischools and @miamisup, and on Facebook at MiamiSchools and AlbertoCarvalho.
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