Welcome to Sayles School!

Below are the recommendations from the State Department of Education and the State Department of Health for individual who travel overnight and out-of- state.

When traveling

Individuals or families planning overnight out-of-state travel in the coming weeks, and even those planning only in-state or regional day-trips, have the potential to return home with unrecognized SARS-CoV-2 infection. This is especially true where travel involves states with fewer restrictions and safety measures in place, where compliance with masking and other mitigation strategies may be low, and where more contagious virus variants may be widely circulating. Of particular concern for families with members who either attend or work at K-12 schools and students and school staff returning from travel and subsequently reporting to school during their infectious period, could significantly impact the continuing operation of schools for in-person learning in the weeks following spring breaks.

The responsibility lies with individuals and families to take the steps necessary to protect themselves, their school communities, and others before, during, and after travel, as it would not be reasonable to expect schools to investigate or enforce recommendations related to private activities. Both the CDC and DPH continue to recommend against out-of-state travel during this time. However, for individuals and families associated with K-12 schools in Connecticut who choose to travel in the coming weeks (for spring break or otherwise) the following actions are recommended:

Continue to utilize all appropriate mitigation strategies while traveling (including mask wearing, distancing, symptom recognition, etc.) regardless of whether the policies and procedures in place at your destination mandate them.
Before travel, review the current DPH and CDC recommendations for travel during COVID-19 and be sure to plan sufficient time for any necessary actions.
Follow DPH and CDC best-practice quarantine and testing procedures upon return, including:

– quarantining for a full 7 days, even with a negative COVID-19 test result obtained between days 3-5; or

– quarantining for a full 10 days without testing; and

– continuing to monitor for symptoms during all quarantine periods.
Individuals or families choosing not to observe quarantine should at a minimum:

– get tested for COVID-19 after they return;

– stay out of school until they receive a negative test result back from the laboratory;

– be acutely and continuously aware of any symptoms of COVID-19 that they or their family members may develop in the two weeks after travel; and be prepared to immediately isolate/quarantine themselves if/when symptoms develop.

Thank you for your attention to this information,

William Hull,
Superintendent of Schools