Dear Hopewell Families and Staff,
You may have heard the news that this afternoon Governor Youngkin signed a new law (SB 739) that says that parents may choose if their children wear masks to school and that school divisions must implement this by March 1st.
While our Board policy has required masks for all students and staff, we will follow the law while also continuing to follow the federal health guidelines for schools for areas this new law does not address. Please also note that the state law does not override federal law (which still applies to buses and Head Start) nor does it apply to employees (for which there are Department of Labor regulations and school board policies still in place).
In terms of the choice of masking being made by parents, please be aware of the following regarding masks:
-
Starting on March 1st, masks will not be required of students when at school except for those instances noted below.
-
Parents will not be required to send a note of permission for a student to be unmasked, but if a parent wishes a student to remain masked at school they can communicate this to the teacher and we will make reasonable efforts to support the parent’s request.
-
Masks will still be required for students whenever on buses and at all times for all pre-k students, as masks in these situations are governed by federal requirements.
-
Masks will still be required of all staff and visitors/volunteers (at least until community transmission decreases and/or school board policies and state policies are modified).
Under this new law, we want you to know that we plan to continue to follow the following guidelines recommended currently by the CDC:
-
Strong recommendation to be up-to-date on vaccinations (for staff, being fully vaccinated or testing weekly remains a requirement).
-
Daily monitoring for symptoms and staying home in most cases when symptoms are present.
-
Testing regularly, and particularly when there may be symptoms or exposure.
-
Maintaining distance when possible to do so without sacrificing quality of instruction.
-
Minimizing mixing of student groups when possible to do so without sacrificing quality of instruction.
-
Frequent hand washing.
-
Frequent cleaning and disinfecting.
-
Maintaining proper ventilation.
We continue to strive to have our students learning in school as much as possible and to do so as safely as possible. We are encouraged by the recent decline in COVID cases and will continue to monitor health conditions and do what we can under law to follow health guidelines.
We know that the changes brought by this law will be welcomed by some and be concerning to others. We stand by our commitment to do what we can to provide for the health and safety of everyone - students, families, and staff - while we abide by the law and also strive to have our students in school for learning.
Please reach out to us with any questions as we prepare for implementing the new law at the end of the month. We will use the time over the next week or so to collect the questions and provide responses. You can send us any questions HERE.