YES.   As mandated by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education , ALL Dedham students (PreK-12) will be required to wear a mask at all times, while indoors in a Dedham school building.

DPS has further mandated that all PreK students, who may fall outside of the State guidelines, will also be required to wear masks in school buildings.

All students will be required to wear masks on all buses, including athletic and field trip busing.

Masks will not be required outdoors and all our schools will be working to ensure that we are taking advantage of our outdoor spaces as much as possible for lunches and mask breaks.

Masks will be required for all DPS visitors to a school building.   Indoor athletic event spectators will be allowed provided mask guidelines are followed.

Masks will be required for all INDOOR athletics including Cheerleading and Volleyball.

This mask mandate will be effective Wednesday, August 25, 2021 until further notice.

If students forget or are in need of masks to meet this mandate, disposable masks will be available as needed. We would appreciate families sending students with masks, and ideally a back up in their bag.  However, masks will be available as needed.

Also note:  As of Tuesday, August 10, all Dedham Municipal Buildings now require masking for all staff and visitors

COVID continues to be an ongoing risk, with variants and rising numbers reported every day.   Returning students and educators to classrooms in-person means we need to ensure that everyone in the shared space feels as comfortable and safe as possible, so they can focus on learning, instead of worrying about COVID.  

Throughout the summer DPS school leadership and Town health officials have been reviewing and discussing the dozen or more recommendations and guidelines issued for schools.

Dedham COVID-19 Infections Historical Data Trends

7-18-2021 American Academy of Pediatrics Guidance for Safe Schools

7-30-21 DPH/DESE COVID Guidance for Districts

8-4-21 CDC Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools

8-13-21 DPH/DESE Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 in schools

8-16-21 MME Guidelines

8-20-21 BESE Commissioner’s Memo

8-20-21 DPH/DESE FAQ’s

Parents/guardians and students are always encouraged to reach out and express any concerns or raise any questions. 

Please reach out to your school principal to learn more about how these guidelines impact your school experience.

At the September 1, 2021 Dedham School Committee meeting, proposed guidelines from Superintendent Welch included extending the State mandate to all include PreK students. 

State mandates were limited by authorized parameters (PreK falls under separate jurisdiction).

In Dedham - 

• Until further notice, ALL DPS staff and students (PreK-12) will be required to wear a mask at all times (other than mask breaks and lunch) while indoors in any Dedham Public School building.  

We understand that many of our Middle and High school students have been vaccinated against COVID, but these guidelines have been designed to help ensure that ALL students and staff can feel safe in our buildings at all times.  

If your student has not been vaccinated and is eligible, please consider getting them vaccinated as soon as possible.  

Returning students and educators fully in-person to classrooms ensures we can return to dynamic learning approaches and provide opportunities for group work and social engagement throughout the school day.

There are no plans for a dedicated school vaccine clinic at this time, given that vaccines are easily accessed in many locations across the State.

If your student has not been vaccinated and is eligible, we strongly encourage you to get them vaccinated as soon as possible. Vaccinations for anyone age 12 and older are readily available.  Please use the MA DPH Vaccination Locator website for more information.

There will be no physical distancing requirements for students this year in the classroom or hallways when masks are being worn.   

This is an exciting shift as it will allow our classrooms to return to group work, social engagement and all the benefits to learning in a collaborative environment.

We will be working with school principals to ensure that whenever possible, outdoor space is used to provide time for students to remove their masks.

Students will continue to have designated mask breaks throughout the day.    Whenever possible, these mask breaks will occur outdoors and students on mask breaks will be asked to maintain at least 3ft of distance from others.

Current proposed COVID management plans include continued use of classroom and office HEPA air purifiers whenever rooms are occupied. 

DPS will also plan for continued monitoring of CO2 concentrations in all classrooms with univents or centrally controlled HVAC.

Continued routine, daily cleaning of high touch surfaces once per day will also be maintained until further notice.

We are still working through details pertaining to policies around team meetings, larger group or assembly events.   More details to be provided soon.

Dedham Public Schools will continue to provide regular, COVID Safety Checks - group testing of students and staff who consent to the program - what was known as Pooled Testing last year.

We will be working with a new vendor - assigned by the State. •New vendor:  CIC Health

Students and staff who have completed the consent form will be tested weekly during the school day

• Follow up testing with BinaxNOW rapid antigen test for any positive pools
• No news is good news (if you don’t hear from us, it means your child was in a negative pool)

To participate in Covid Safety Checks - Pooled Testing, parents/guardians will be asked to complete a new consent form.  

CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE FORM

CLICK HERE FOR PRINT FORMS

Pooled testing combines multiple nasal test swabs from individuals into a “pool” (group), then the pool is tested for COVID-19 in a laboratory setting.  If results for the pool are negative, no COVID was detected.  If results for the pool are positive, it means at least one person in that pool has COVID and individual follow-up testing is needed. DPS nurses will contact anyone identified in a positive pool and will provide rapid follow-up testing. 

OTHER PROGRAMS DPS CURRENTLY PILOTING AND WILL BE ROLLING OUT DISTRICT-WIDE:

• Symptomatic Testing:  Symptomatic tests allow school nurses to test staff or students who are in school and appear to have symptoms that may indicate COVID.   Instead of sending them home immediately, they will be tested with the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test, and can return to class if it is Negative.
• Test and Stay Program:  If a staff member or student is designated as an asymptomatic school-based “close contact” (not a household close contact) having been possibly exposed to COVID, they have previously been asked to quarantine at home.  Test and Stay allows them to remain in school while participating in DAILY BinaxNOW rapid antigen testing (for a period of 7 days (5 “in school” testing days), no testing on weekends; eMed at-home weekend testing for athletes or those with extra-curricular activities).  As long as the test returns Negative, they can be in the classroom. 

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Given we are not yet ready to start Symptomatic Testing and the Test and Stay program District-wide, staff and students will be sent home if they are exhibiting COVID symptoms or if they are designated as a “close contact” and will need to follow appropriate testing and/or quarantining protocols (there are some exemptions, including if an individual is fully vaccinated).  Your school nurse will discuss your student’s options.
• Students are not OBLIGATED to participate in the weekly pooled testing, even if consent is provided.
• No disciplinary repercussions will be taken if a student signed up to participate in weekly pooled testing chooses not to participate that day.
• You CAN opt-in to the program at any time.
• You may OPT-OUT of the programs at any time, but once consent has been removed, it is difficult to re-join the programs in the future. 

Given we are not yet ready to start Symptomatic Testing and the Test and Stay program, staff and students will be sent home if they are exhibiting COVID symptoms or if they are designated as a “close contact” and will need to follow appropriate testing and/or quarantining protocols.  

• Please note, there are exemptions to this (including if your child is fully vaccinated).  Your school nurse will discuss all of your options should your child be deemed an asymptomatic close contact.  

Page 2 of these flowcharts provides important details regarding protocols for Asymptomatic Close Contacts, including all of the exemptions. 

If you have specific questions regarding Close Contacts, please reach out to your school nurse. 

At this time, Dedham Public Schools are not planning on providing students who are isolating/quarantining at home with a virtual, online learning option. 

Much like any other illness, students who will be absent for an extended period of time will be able to arrange for work to be provided, which the student can complete at home.    

If your student will be required to be absent or quarantined for an extended length of time, please immediately reach out to the school principal and school nurse to coordinate.

A majority of our faculty and staff at DPS have been fully vaccinated.  As part of the Return to School guidelines that were approved by the Dedham School Committee, Dedham Public Schools are asking that All DPS staff will be required to provide evidence of COVID-19 vaccination or consent to COVID-19 testing twice per week.