Covid Protocol Changes for 2022-2023
August 2022
East Amwell Township School is pleased to begin the 2022-2023 school year free from most of the COVID-19 protocols that were mandated over the past two years. The latest guidance from the New Jersey Department of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control move away from individual case reporting and contact tracing to more normal procedures for illness. Please continue reading for details.
While we will remain on the lookout for outbreaks of COVID-19 in our school community, we are no longer engaging in contact tracing or implementing any quarantines for close contacts of positive cases. Unvaccinated school staff members will no longer be required to show regular negative test results. Masking remains voluntary for the vast majority of individuals, including on district buses.
In the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, we will work with our partners in the Department of Health to determine an appropriate response. However, that response will likely be initially limited to the context of the outbreak. For example, if the Department of Health alerts us of an outbreak on one of our athletic teams, only the members of that team will likely see any changes in protocols or schedules.
We will continue to implement some precautionary measures. For example, we continue to stress that personal hygiene and respiratory etiquette are essential, and will continue to make hand sanitizing gel available in all classrooms and other locations throughout campus. While we have opened water fountains for use, we have also added many more bottle filling stations and encourage staff and students to use them. In the event that a child or adult does have a positive COVID-19 test result, the Department of Health continues to recommend that they stay out of school for at least five days from the onset of symptoms (or the date of the test, if asymptomatic), and mask around others for an additional five days after return to school. We ask that everyone at Hunterdon Central continue to take symptoms seriously, and exercise precautions to ensure that everyone in our community remains safe.
We are grateful for our partnerships with state and local agencies, and with the parents in our community. We are very appreciative of the students and staff that come to campus every day, and thankful for the care that they show one another.