Dear Palos 118 Families,

It was great to see all of our students bounce down the stairs of our school buses and bound out of cars, excited for the first week of in-person learning! Seeing all of the students, staff, and families arrive, it reminded me of how much we missed these first days, photo-ready moments over the last year and a half. This week at our Institute Day, I said that the start of the year feels like a family reunion, and the first day of school for our students reinforced that for me. Even with the ongoing pandemic, it was a very routine start to the school year. Thank you to our supportive families, outstanding staff, and entire school community for making this week all about supporting our students as they return to in-person learning. We are off to a great start to what I'm confident will be a terrific year here at Palos 118!

Keeping our students and staff safe during in-person instruction takes a strong commitment and effort from the communities we proudly serve. The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our schools is to do everything we can to ensure it doesn't enter the building in the first place. To do that, we need parents to please do the following:

Screen children daily for COVID-19 symptoms prior to sending them to school, regardless of vaccination status.
Keep symptomatic children at home until symptoms resolve.
Keep symptomatic children and children in close contact with a potential or confirmed positive case at home.
Keep siblings of a symptomatic child at home until the symptomatic child receives a negative COVID-19 test result (which can be provided free of charge by the school district).
Do not send children to school if a household member has COVID-19, is suspected of having COVID-19, or is awaiting test results for COVID-19.

If you have any doubt about whether you should send your child to school, please contact the school nurse immediately.

Quarantines

The school district anticipates far fewer student quarantines this school year, but it is possible your child may need to quarantine. Confirmed positive, probable individuals, unvaccinated household close contacts, and in rare instances, in-school close contacts will be required to quarantine. The school district is discontinuing the practice of quarantining entire classrooms when a positive student in the class is confirmed.

If your child is identified as a close contact, they will not be required to quarantine if:

Parents can present proof of vaccination, and the child is asymptomatic;
The child is wearing a mask and at least 3 ft. apart from a probable or confirmed positive individual who is also wearing a mask or;
Parent consents to the child participating in the voluntary Test-to-Stay Program, and test results remain negative.

Parents have the option of providing proof of vaccination at any time or at the time their child is identified as a close contact.

The length of the quarantine is dependent upon the specific circumstances surrounding exposure but generally ranges from 7 to 10 days.

Remote Support

The following quarantined students will have the opportunity to receive daily check-in remote support from their teacher(s):

Positive Students (Students with a positive COVID-19 diagnostic test);
Probable Students (Symptomatic students exposed to a confirmed positive individual);
Asymptomatic students who are close contacts to a confirmed or probable individual in their household.

Vaccinations

Vaccines coupled with universal masking will result in more students remaining in school more days this school year. Last year, the majority of our positive students acquired COVID-19 from a household member, including a parent or older sibling. To assist us in keeping our students in school, we encourage eligible household members to consider getting vaccinated or to speak with their healthcare provider about any concerns regarding vaccination. By limiting the potential for household spread, we should see a significant decrease in the number of positive cases this year.

Vaccination Clinic

The IDPH will be hosting a vaccination clinic at Palos South Middle School on Saturday, September 25, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sign-up information is coming soon, and walk-ins will also be welcome. Both Pfizer and J&J vaccines will be available. A follow-up clinic will be held on October 16, also from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Voluntary Screening/Testing Programs

Our screening/testing programs are already keeping healthy students in school! Since Wednesday, three asymptomatic students avoided being excluded from school because of our rapid test program. Below is information on the two types of programs we offer families this year, and I encourage all families to consider participating.

The school district is partnering with SHIELD-IL this school year to administer VOLUNTARY free COVID-19 tests to all students and staff. There are two types of tests being offered. The first test is a voluntary weekly saliva-based screening test. The voluntary test will be administered at school by a trained school nurse. The saliva samples are sent out to a local laboratory for testing, and results are available within 24 hours. Parents will be notified of all positive test results. These tests are meant to detect COVID-19 infections before symptoms arise and before they can spread effectively. An FAQ regarding this voluntary program can be found here: https://answers.uillinois.edu/search.php?q=SHIELD.

Please note information regarding the logistics of the SHIELD-IL program cannot be finalized until the school district determines the number of voluntary participants. In general, testing time is less than 5 minutes. Logistical details will be provided once participation levels are determined.

The other voluntary test available this year to students and staff is the BINAX rapid response antigen test. This voluntary test may be used to detect infection in students exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms while at school. These tests will be administered at school by a trained school nurse. The test consists of a shallow nasal swab, and results are available within 30 minutes. This is not an invasive deep nasal diagnostic COVID-19 test like those administered at certain testing facilities or the doctor's office. The BINAX tests may allow mildly symptomatic students to stay in school or return to school quicker. An FAQ regarding this voluntary program can be found here: https://www.fda.gov/media/141570/download.

Both testing programs require PARENTAL CONSENT. The school district is utilizing an OPT-IN consent model for participation. This means only students with a completed parent consent form will be tested. We encourage all parents to please consider utilizing one or both of these programs to help keep their students in school without quarantine disruptions. Consent forms were sent home on the first day of school. The consent form should be returned to your child's teacher or the front office. Please contact the school office if you misplaced or need a consent form.

This Week's Metrics & Palos 118 COVID-19 Dashboard

Last year, I reported weekly metrics the school district tracked to monitor the trajectory of the pandemic. We also posted school district specific COVID-19 updates to a weekly COVID-19 Dashboard. This year, we've combined the two. Click here to view our dashboard, which now includes our weekly metrics. The community metrics provided are a weighted average based on student enrollment from the communities we serve.

We're off to a great start! Have a wonderful weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone again on Monday.

Sincerely,

Dr. Anthony M. Scarsella

Superintendent of Schools