Dear Valparaiso Schools Community,
When the Valparaiso Community Schools instituted the mask requirement in September, we promised that this action was temporary and was an effort to maintain continuous high-quality, in-person instruction for our students and staff. Further, we pledged to continue to closely monitor the fluid conditions while communicating with state and local officials in order to fulfill our duty to always do what is in the best interest of our students, teachers, and staff.
Throughout the process, VCS has considered many factors, and our ongoing review indicates significant progress. Our considerations include positive cases in our community, positive cases reported directly to our schools, continued opportunities for vaccination for our entire school community, the number of individuals in quarantine, student and staff attendance rates, and legally-required length of quarantine for positive cases and direct contacts.
All of these metrics have steadily improved since the fall and early winter.
As a result of the above developments, and in consultation with Porter County’s Chief Health Officer, Dr. Maria Stamp, Valparaiso Community Schools will return to a mask-optional environment in all of the schoolhouses effective Monday, February 14, 2022.
Despite this, masks will still be required on school buses as part of the ongoing federal mandate for public transportation.
Please know that VCS supports any student or staff member who decides to continue to wear a mask in school, and no one will be prevented from doing so.
I’d like to personally thank each of you for your continued support of our VCS community. We have all experienced various challenges through the pandemic, but we have achieved so much due to our shared commitment to serve and support the youth of our community. Our mission remains the same, so please be assured that we will continue to monitor this fluid situation and alter our strategies swiftly in order to maintain the high-quality, in-person learning environment for our students and staff.
Thank you for your continued support.
Partners in Education,
Jim McCall, PhD
Superintendent of Schools
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What does this mean for our school community?
- Masks will now be optional for all students, staff, and visitors at all times in the schoolhouse.
- Classroom direct contacts, as well as those close contacts from households, extracurricular activities and athletics may still be subject to quarantine. See IDOH requirements regarding Isolation and Quarantine in a mask-optional environment here.
- **Vaccinated (asymptomatic) students and staff and those with documented positive tests within 90 days of contact remain exempt from contact-traced quarantines in all settings.
- VCS will continue to encourage physical distancing in all settings and frequent hand washing/sanitizing in addition to our other layered mitigation protocols.
- Please note that masks will still be required on school buses due to the federal transportation mandate still in effect.
To further support our efforts, please continue to adhere to the following:
- Keep your child home from school and call the school nurse if:
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- They are not feeling well and exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19
- Your child has been exposed to an individual with COVID-19 outside of school;
- You are waiting for COVID-19 test results for your child; or
- Your child tests positive for COVID-19—Be sure to report any positive COVID test for your child(ren) to the school nurse.
- Avoid attending large gatherings if you are ill and exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
- Practice good healthy habits, including frequent hand-washing and covering your coughs and sneezes with a tissue.