Pre-Screening   

Thank you to students and staff for using CrisisGo last year. It will not be part of the protocols for the new school year.   

Vaccinations   

PPS encourages students and staff to stay up to date with vaccinations and boosters. 

• Families should upload their student’s COVID-19 vaccination and booster cards to PowerSchool. We also anticipate that we will be able to integrate our Frontline platform with NJ Dept. of Health vaccination information soon.
• The Princeton Health Department (PHD) and PPS promote equitable access to vaccinations and will continue to advertise PHD clinics and run PPS/PHD joint vaccine clinics through the 2022-2023 school year. Details about PPS vaccination clinics will be available soon. 

Stay Home When Sick

To prevent the spread of all illnesses, it is critical that students and staff stay home when symptomatic. 

Get tested and contact your healthcare professional as needed. 

Students and staff experiencing the following symptoms need to stay home until symptoms are resolved. If they test positive for COVID-19 stay home for 5 days, returning on day 6 wearing a mask for days 6 through 10.

Respiratory or gastrointestinal infections such as:

• Cough
• Fever
• Sore throat
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• New loss of taste or smell
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue 
• Muscle or body aches 

Please use your schools’ Online Illness Report to communicate about your child’s illness each time they are out sick. The links will be available next week.

Parental Symptom Screening

• Parents and family caregivers are strongly encouraged to closely monitor their children for signs of illness every morning before they leave for school.
• Do not send your child to school if they have a fever.
• Use the school Online Illness Report to notify the school nurse about your child’s symptoms when they miss school due to illness. 
• Parents are also encouraged to reach out to their school nurse with questions. 

Masking   

• Masks are recommended but not required for PPS students and staff. Those who are immunocompromised or at risk for getting very sick should consider masking. 
• Any student or staff member who tests positive for COVID-19 will need to mask on days 6 through day 10, when returning to school after the 5-day isolation period ends.   
• PPS does not anticipate mandatory masking. Though, during times of high community transmission level and increased spread in classes or schools, masking decisions will be made following the advice of the Princeton Health Dept. and our school physician. 

COVID testing   

Regardless of vaccination status, students and staff who experience symptoms of COVID-19 must test, and if positive, isolate for 5 days.

• If symptoms resolve, the student or staff may return on day 6, wearing a mask on days 6 through day 10. 
• If a student is unwilling to mask on days 6 through day 10, they must stay home and return on day 11. 
• Students with disabilities that impact mask wearing will be supported on an individual basis. 
• Symptomatic students and staff must be tested and receive an alternative diagnosis from their medical professional to return to school. 

Test to Stay 

To keep students in school and limit quarantine for unvaccinated students, the NJ Dept of Health has provided guidelines for test to stay protocol.  Unvaccinated students who have had a documented positive test for COVID-19 in the 90 days prior to exposure and who remain asymptomatic are exempt from quarantine.

When an unvaccinated student or staff member has been notified that they have been in close contact with a COVID-19 positive individual and they are asymptomatic, the following steps are to be followed:

• Test immediately upon notification
• Home rapid tests are acceptable.
• If negative, return to school. 
• If the close contact is a household member, the student or staff member should remain at home for 5 days and return on day 6 with a mask for days 6-10
• Retest on day 5 after exposure; if negative, continue to attend school.
• Follow procedures for additional precautions including masking and distancing.
• If the test is positive, immediately isolate for 5 days and return on day 6, if symptoms have reduced, with a mask for days 6 – 10.

Classroom notifications   

If a student tests positive for COVID, PPS will notify parents and classmates in the same way that the district notifies parents of other contagious illnesses.   

Contact Tracing   

Individual contact tracing in schools is no longer recommended by the CDC or the NJ Dept. of Health. 

Remote learning   

• PPS will return to pre-pandemic policies for students who are ill. Students should access their teachers’ Canvas pages and make-up work will be provided. There will not be an individual remote-learning option.   
• If the district or a school must switch to remote learning due to a public health emergency, remote instruction will be provided. 

Unvaccinated Students   

If your student is not up to date on COVID-19 vaccination and they have not had a documented positive COVID-19 test in the prior 90 days, they may: 

• Follow traditional quarantine guidelines and remain at home for 5 days. Students should wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days after the exposure,
  OR 
• Continue attending school under the Test to Stay (TTS) program. To TTS they are required to test on the day they are notified and on Day 5. Rapid tests at a testing location or home-based tests are acceptable. 

If your child has a positive COVID-19 test result, please keep your child home from school and notify the school nurse by using the school’s  Online Illness Report.

Screening Testing

• Routine screening testing in K-12 schools is no longer recommended by the CDC.
• On 8/15/22, Governor Murphy lifted the requirement that unvaccinated school staff members must test weekly for COVID-19. PPS will no longer test staff weekly. 

   Ventilation   

• Ventilation and air purification​, as well as ongoing monitoring of the schools' indoor air quality, will continue to be ​a key part of PPS preventative protocols.