Dear SPS Families and Staff

I write tonight to provide a brief update on modifications to SPS protocols and COVID updates from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

Like districts across the Commonwealth, we have been impacted by the recent surge. The schools and our transportation and foodservice partners have been creative in arranging for coverage. Our educator teams have been committed to the creation of Quarantine Learning Plans to support students in isolation and quarantine. We are doing our best, and doubling down on existing COVID protocols, while instituting new iterations to limit exposures.

Before the winter break, staff revisited spacing to maximize the distance between students. We will continue to align our procedures with DESE recommendations and conduct contact tracing in the very few instances when students are less than three feet from one other when inside the school building. Moving forward, we will continue to update the dashboard with positive cases and send general letters when a school has a positive case. We will also notify families when we identify a positive student or staff member that has been in a classroom for 15 minutes or more with your child. The middle school will continue to notify families when there is a positive student or staff member at the team level. Understanding that some fully vaccinated people do test positive for COVID-19, these communication protocol updates will provide families with the information they need to monitor their students for symptoms, even if those symptoms are mild.

DESE has also provided an update to their FAQ (updated protocols, masking at lunch, and the definition of fully vaccinated). This week DESE also announced an extension of the mask mandate until February 28, 2022.

Additionally, Sudbury has solidified another vaccination and booster clinic for January 24, 2022. This will be located at Curtis Middle School, and more details will come.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We remain committed to mitigations and the impacts on the health and safety of the staff, students, and families.

Sincerely,

Brad Crozier

Superintendent of Schools