Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue announced in a letter to parents and staff on December 30 that the plan is still to have students return to school buildings in full on Monday, January 3.

The letter, in full, follows.

Dear Staff and Parents,

I hope you are all well and are enjoying your winter break.

At this time, we are still planning to return to school in full on Monday, January 3 with the full breadth of mitigation strategies in place that we have applied in schools all along. That being said, we will continue to monitor the cases in our school community and work in partnership with our local health department as we make decisions moving forward.

As I am sure you have heard in the media, there are some changes in isolation/quarantining which have been communicated by the CDC, including a shortened isolation/quarantine period for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases (5 days). As of the date of this letter, however, districts have not been given official guidance as to whether (or how) this applies in schools or daycare settings. The State has promised further information in the next few days, and we plan to communicate this with you as soon as we know.

In a press conference, Governor Lamont announced that towns and schools will be provided with at-home test kits for families, but we are hearing there is a delay on this. In addition, a supply of N95 masks will be distributed to all districts for staff. These will not be available until the week we return from the winter break.

Please understand that we will update you as soon as more information from the State is provided to us. I plan to send an update out on Sunday, January 2 after we have received more detailed information on the above.

Thank you,

Dr Lorrie Rodrigue, Superintendent