9/21/22

A Message from Superintendent of Schools Kevin Case:

Dear Canton Public Schools Community,
I hope this message finds you well. We continue to celebrate the return to in-person learning for our staff and our students for the 2021-22 school year.  Our first few weeks of school have been outstanding and we look forward to supporting each and every one of our students in their work this year to ensure their success.

I also would like to write to update you regarding several health and safety matters which will be important to support our continued operations.
  
Case Rates
As of September 11th, there was an average case rate of 10.4 per 100,000 individuals over a two week period in Canton, compared to 11.8 cases in the Farmington Valley.  The highest number of cases is found within the aged 19-39 group in the Farmington Valley, a total of 20%.  Canton has held steady at 73 % of all students, aged 12-17,  having received at least one dose of COVID vaccine.  To date, the Canton Public Schools have experienced five (5) positive cases requiring quarantine since the start of the school year: One (1) at Cherry Brook Primary School, one (1) at Canton Middle School, and three (3) at Canton High School.
 
Daily Family Guidance from the Farmington Valley Health District
Please review the attached guidance from the Farmington Valley Health District regarding daily home screening for COVID-19.  We encourage you to continue daily screenings for COVID-19 symptoms and communicate with our health offices if your child or family member has been in close contact with anyone confirmed with COVID-19.  Additionally, If ANYONE in your home has been tested for COVID-19 (excluding routine testing) OR is symptomatic, please, DO NOT send your unvaccinated child to school until the results have been obtained.  Please find the attached document provided by the Farmington Valley Health District to support this important work.

We will continue to contact trace any positive cases. Vaccinated individuals who are asymptomatic are NOT required to quarantine even if they are a close contact with a positive case.  Close contact is based on the guidance of less than three feet distance for 15 minutes or more in a masked classroom. Final determinations on quarantine periods will be made by the Farmington Valley Health District. The length of quarantine will be shortened for those who submit negative PCR test results.

Vaccination
The CT DPH continues to stress that the most important mitigation strategy is vaccination. In order to quickly determine the extent to which quarantining is required for close contacts to a positive case, we will be asking students to share their vaccination cards with us. This is not mandatory or a requirement for attendance by students, but is a strong recommendation from the Farmington Valley Health District. This information will be kept confidential by the school nurses and only accessed for contact tracing purposes when necessary.
 
If you would like to to share evidence of your child’s vaccination status to assist in possible future contact tracing, please send a hard copy or email/fax an electronic copy to Diane Sodaro at dsodaro@cantonschools.org  or fax 860-693-5837.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Diane Sodaro, Nursing Supervisor, at dsodaro@cantonschools.org or 860-693-7201.

Mask Wearing
Under the current Governor's Executive Order, masks remain required for all individuals indoors in schools and whenever students are riding the bus through September 30th. Students are not required to wear masks when outside (ie... recess or outdoor instruction).  If there are any changes, I will communicate them in a timely manner.  Please continue to send your child(ren) to school with a clean mask each day. There are extremely rare conditions where a child would qualify for a mask exemption. When this occurs, other mitigation strategies are put in place for the child.
 
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Diane Sodaro, Nursing Supervisor, at dsodaro@cantonschools.org or 860-693-7201. I will continue to send out weekly updates every Friday afternoon with the latest health information from the Farmington Valley Health District. Thank you for your continued support and partnership.
 
Sincerely, 
Kevin D. Case
Superintendent of Schools
 
Farmington Valley Health District Parents Daily Checklist
CIACFall2021COVIDSportGuidance-8-12-21.pdf
Vaccinate-Athletes_Final_072021.pdf