Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff,

We are a week away from returning to a new school year. As with the last two years, we will have our challenges but North Smithfield students, families, and school department staff have persevered and come through it together.

21-22 School Times and Busing

First day of school for K-12 students, Tuesday, August 30th, 2021. (K will be an abbreviated day) 
First day of school for Pre-K, Friday, September 3rd. 

NSMS/NSHS student school day     7:55am – 2:20pm  
NSES student school day                     8:45am – 3:10pm
We anticipate that bus routes and pickup and dropoff locations, as well as times, will be available on the DATTCO website on August 26th. https://www.dattcoschoolbus.com/my-childs-route/?did=6

**As a reminder, per federal regulation, students must wear a mask in order to board and ride the school bus. 
 
Masking

The Governor has issued an executive order requiring masks.  (https://governor.ri.gov/executive-orders/executive-order-21-87)

The school department will follow and adhere to governmental orders and laws. Additionally, we will follow Rhode Island Department of Health policies and protocols.  

It is our hope that, despite disagreements within the community, our bus drivers, office assistants, nurses, and teachers will be able to focus on transporting, educating, and caring for the students without challenges or pressures over this issue. 

COVID Protocols

Our resources are dedicated this year to full in-person instruction, 5 days a week.  Kids need to be in the classroom. There are a number of factors that will allow us to achieve this.

• We have invested in our HVAC systems and all classrooms exceed the RIDOH requirements for air exchanges per hour. Their minimal requirement is 2-3 exchanges, while our classrooms are rated at 4-6 exchanges per hour. 
  
• We have well-established and proven cleaning protocols. 
  
• We will be maintaining stable groupings of students from PK-6 along with distancing protocols to the extent possible. 
  
• We have hired two Certified Nurse Assistants (through a grant) who, along with our nurses will be equipped to administer onsite rapid screenings as well as PCR screenings. 
  
• To date, at least 40% of our eligible students, 12 years of age and older, are fully vaccinated. 
  
• All this, along with universal masking, factors into reducing the extent of contact tracing and quarantining. 
  

Screening

We will be sending a link to a form for all parents to fill out. The form will have two parts…

• Part One will replace the daily attestations from last year and emphasize that COVID screening begins at home and confirming that you will not send your student to school if he or she is sick. 
  
• Part Two will include parental consent allowing our health offices to administer a rapid screening. This is the screening that was used with our student-athletes last year. It is simple enough to be self-administered by the older students, with a 15-minute result. 
  
• Part Two will additionally ask for parental consent permitting a nurse or CNA to administer a PCR test onsite. PCR tests will be sent directly from the school to a lab for quick results. The PCR results will only be available to our nurse and the family. We hope this will save time having parents go directly to a testing center if a student comes down to the nurse’s office with multiple COVID-like symptoms. 
  

Contact Tracing and Quarantine

As mentioned earlier, contact tracing and quarantining will be highly targeted.  The RIDOH protocols we are to follow are located at https://www.back2schoolri.com/what-you-need-to-know/

These are different from those we followed last year and designed to keep students in school. 

Multiple factors including ventilation, cleaning, distancing, mask-wearing effect contact tracing, and quarantine. In brief (as of this writing):

• If during contact tracing, a student is determined to be a close contact of a COVID-positive student, and the close contact is vaccinated, he or she will not have to quarantine. (screening and monitoring for symptoms will be recommended)
  
• If during contact tracing, a student is determined to be a close contact, and the close contact had been diagnosed with COVID within 90 days, the close contact will not have to quarantine. 
  
• If during contact tracing, 1) the COVID-positive student was wearing a mask (properly and consistently) and 2) the close contact student(s) were also wearing masks (properly and consistently), and 3) all the students maintained 3 feet or more distance, the masked close contact(s) will not have to quarantine, even if they are unvaccinated (screening and monitoring for symptoms will be recommended)
  
• COVID-positive students will need to quarantine for 7 days and be able to return to school on day 8 with a negative PCR test taken on day 5. 
  
• Those who are told they need to quarantine will have targeted, priority work (packets for the youngest students) assigned. While we won’t be live streaming classrooms this year, we are working on securing tutors to check-in and assist students who are quarantined if they are not too sick to work at home. 
  

Other issues that will affect us going into the school year with contact tracing and quarantining will include our community transmission rates, our community and student vaccination coverage, testing, and any related outbreak situations.  

Again, all this information and more, including athletics, and many of the “what-if” scenarios people may be thinking about, are available at https://www.back2schoolri.com/what-you-need-to-know/ 
   
Conclusion

Our teachers are excited to be back in the classroom and see our students in person. We have good protocols in place designed to allow students to remain in school. We will have extra supports and opportunities for students during and after school. Despite some community disagreements, the passion to do what is best for our students is strong. That is a good thing. We are definitely a community that loves and supports our kids. 

With everyone’s support, I am positive that we can keep our students in the classroom, keep them learning, keep them socially engaged, and keep them safe and happy. 

​

Dear North Smithfield Families and Staff, 

School Chairman Lombardi and I would like to give you an update on the Fall reopening plans. 

At this point, masking and COVID vaccinations are a family decision. To mitigate quarantining and help keep our schools open, we hope that families will consider vaccinating themselves and eligible children. 

​The Governor's office and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) have published a new set of COVID guidelines for safe school operation. With these guidelines, RIDOH and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) are encouraging school districts to develop policies and protocols for the school opening in the Fall. 

At the July 20th School Committee Meeting, the School Committee mask policy was adopted for the first reading. This policy was prepared by our attorney and is consistent with what most Northern RI Districts are doing. 

The policy aligns with the masking requirements under the law. 

• Masking is highly recommended. 
• Masking is required while riding the school bus as part of a federal public transportation order. 
• There is currently no Executive Order mandating the use of masks in schools. While wearing masks continues to be highly recommended, it is not a state mandate, even among unvaccinated individuals. 
• The district will follow state laws and RIDOH recommendations in developing appropriate protocols. 

During the coming weeks, we will have more information from the RIDOH regarding COVID, the Delta Variant, and school guidance. North Smithfield is and will be working with RIDE, RIDOH, and districts across the region to develop protocols. 

Until more information becomes available, we can share a few items to keep in mind for the coming school year.

• We intend to be open in full, 5 days a week. 
• We will not be offering a North Smithfield full-time distance learning option. Our entire focus is to have all students back in the classroom for full in-person instruction. 
• There will undoubtedly be positive COVID cases in classrooms. When this happens, during contact tracing, we will be asking for proof of vaccination. Anyone who is determined to be a close contact and can provide the school nurse their proof of vaccination, will not need to quarantine. Anyone who is a close contact and is unvaccinated will have to quarantine for at least seven days (return on Day 8 based on a negative PCR test taken on Day 5) 
• We will not be live-streaming lessons from the classrooms or holding Google Meets. Assignments will be provided. Students who are under quarantine will have work provided to them to complete at home to keep pace. 

Please keep in mind that all this is a snapshot in time. 

We are confident that as a school department and as a community, we will collectively meet the challenges ahead. 


Sincerely, 
    - James J Lombardi III Esq CPA, School Committee Chair 
    - Michael St. Jean, Superintendent 

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Memo from Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green 
August 3, 2021 

As you have likely heard, the CDC updated its guidance related to mask-wearing in K-12 schools. The CDC now recommends that all people in an elementary or secondary school setting wear a face mask, regardless of their vaccination status. This change comes as a result of the growing prevalence of the Delta variant of virus that causes COVID-19, which spreads more easily and may cause more severe illness. 

While we no longer have the authority to mandate mask use, heeding this important warning from the CDC, RIDE in partnership with Governor McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health, is now strongly recommending that districts implement a policy requiring every person in a school setting to wear a face mask indoors, whether vaccinated or not. I understand that this is a change in guidance from the state’s previous guidance, but it is our duty to adapt to protect our students and staff. 

The Delta variant of COVID-19 now has a significant presence in Rhode Island. The Delta variant spreads much more quickly than the strains of the virus that were predominate in Rhode Island even just a few weeks ago. Unvaccinated people are most at risk of getting and spreading the Delta variant, though even those who are vaccinated can spread it. 

Vaccines remain one of the most powerful tools to keep students safe and healthy, and learning in the classroom. It takes approximately five weeks to become fully vaccinated starting with the first dose; depending on your district, the start of school is currently between five and seven weeks away. Please, if
you haven’t, get your first dose of the vaccine as soon as possible. Information on vaccination sites and schedules can be found on C19vaccineRI.org. 

Last year, all of us—educators, families, school leaders, community members, and more— were able to work together to lead the nation in providing in-person learning to our students without the major spread of the COVID-19 virus. I know that together, we will be able to replicate that feat and provide our students, families, and educators with the support they deserve. 

​You can view the latest school guidance at back2schoolri.com.