Please note that on Sept. 1, there were changes from the state regarding quarantine policies.

Dear CPCSC Families and Staff,

We have an important update regarding COVID procedures in our district. In our first 9 days of school, CPCSC had 55 positive COVID cases and more than 880 close contact quarantines.

Governor Holcomb has empowered Indiana’s Health Commissioner to establish the requirements schools must follow when students test positive for COVID or are identified as close contacts. The Commissioner’s Order 21-01 establishes the current requirements for schools. Those policies state that in mask optional environments, close contacts include anyone within six feet of a COVID positive individual. In classroom environments where masks are required, the circle for close contacts is reduced to three feet. 

In order to use the three-foot measurement, reduce close contact numbers, and keep more students in school, CPCSC will require masks during the school day beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, September 1st. 

Per the Health Commissioner, vaccinated close contacts are not required to quarantine. Requiring masks means we can now follow additional procedures for close contacts returning to school earlier. Unvaccinated close contacts who show NO symptoms can:

• Provide a negative PCR test result. The PCR test must occur after day 5 and a negative result will permit the individual to return on day 8. 

• Return without a negative test result on day 11.

Students currently quarantined will be able to follow the procedures above to return to school earlier. You can find information about those dates here. Please contact the school nurse with questions.

We committed to watching our school data to determine policy changes throughout the year. That data shows that wearing masks would significantly lower our number of quarantines. Using the return procedures above can help shorten the length of quarantines. We must do what we can to keep our students in class. 

Some of you will welcome this change, while others will not. The board and administration continue to receive and listen to feedback from all sides of this conversation. I ask that our community continues to work together to keep our students in the classroom.

You can find all of the district COVID information, including an updated FAQ, on our website at www.cps.k12.in.us/covid.