Important COVID-19 Plan Announcement

Dear Berkley Schools Community,

On Monday, February 28, 2022, the Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) mask mandate will be lifted for all Oakland County schools. Starting on this day, Berkley School District will also lift its mask mandate, following the guidance of our local public health officials just as we have throughout this school year.

I know this may be difficult news for some and welcome news for others. In their announcement, OCHD said, “The Health Division weighed several factors to determine the appropriate time to end the mask requirement in schools, including a sharp decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and increasing vaccination rates in Oakland County.” In their announcement OCHD also shared that they still strongly recommend wearing a mask while in public indoor settings, and “at this time, an emergency health order should be replaced by individual action to protect ourselves.”

Masks will continue to be welcome and supported in our schools. We will also continue to provide KN95, cloth and surgical masks to any staff or student who requests one. There are a few situations where masks will continue to be required:

• All staff and students (ages 2 and up) at Berkley Building Blocks, including home visits, will continue to be required to wear a face mask until children ages 2 years and older are eligible to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19
• Any student PreK-12 while riding a bus (daily transportation or athletics) will continue to be required to wear a mask according to a federal regulation. Masks must be worn over both the nose and mouth, following CDC guidelines.
• As part of the quarantine guidelines, following "mask to stay" guidance from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
• If there is evidence of classroom or school spread, which will be determined and communicated by District administration

While masks will be recommended, not required, starting February 28, 2022, there are many safety protocols that will remain. You can review our updated COVID-19 School Plan PDF to see all the details. The following are highlights of the plan.

Daily Testing Clinic & Mid-Winter Break Clinic

Our daily testing clinic will continue every morning at the Berkley High School East Gym (2325 Catalpa) from 7:15-8 am, Monday - Friday. Anyone who has an option to test to stay for quarantine guidelines and any student who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms may use our daily clinic. In addition to our daily clinic, we will be hosting a Mid-Winter Break clinic, open to any student in the District, on Sunday, February 27, 2022 from 9 am - 12 pm at the Berkley High School East Gym. No prior registration is required.

Contact Tracing

We will continue to contact trace for close contacts in our schools. It’s important that families notify their school principal if anyone in their household has tested positive for COVID-19. With the new guidelines from Oakland County Health Division, we also have modified our Quarantine and Isolation guidelines. The biggest change is there are no longer categories for masked vs unmasked exposure. Now, students will follow guidelines based on vaccination status only per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) guidelines. In addition, there are mask to stay requirements added into our guidelines. Please refer to our infographic to see all the current guidelines for quarantine and isolation for all students and staff.

Cleaning & Disinfecting

All buildings will continue to be cleaned and disinfected nightly. Bathrooms will continue to be disinfected every four hours. Hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes will continue to be available in every classroom.

Prior to returning to school on February 28, we encourage you to take the time to have a conversation with your children about mask wearing. If your decision is to continue to wear masks, make sure your children know your family rule. Our teachers will be focusing on the teaching and learning in the classroom, not managing mask wearing or classroom configurations related to masking. We encourage you to discuss with your children that every family may not make the same choice as yours, and students should lead with kindness while they are at school. We know this may be hard, and this decision may impact families differently, however, we all need to be respectful of each family's choice.

This new guidance from our local public health officials makes me hopeful that we are moving closer to an endemic and away from a pandemic. Over the last few weeks, our own case numbers have dropped significantly and in some of our buildings we have zero COVID-19 cases. These recent numbers give me hope for what is to come.

I wish you all a restful Mid-Winter Break and encourage you to use our COVID-19 free testing clinic on the 27th if you are worried about exposure during the break.

Sincerely,

Scott Francis
Superintendent
Berkley Schools