May 2022 Quarantine and Isolation Procedure Update

By Press release submission

May 9, 2022

Environmental Charter School at Frick Park issued the following announcement on May 9.

Dear ECS Families,

I want to thank you for your continued support and understanding as the district’s frequent updates regarding COVID-19 procedures may be difficult to navigate. With that being said, I am reaching out today to inform you of an additional change to the district’s procedures.

Effective immediately, ECS is no longer conducting individualized contact tracing. If a classroom has four or more positive COVID-19 cases during a rolling 14-day period, individuals with students in that classroom will be notified via email. Given this update, ECS has made modifications to its Quarantine and Isolation procedures.

I recognize that this change may cause some concerns and anxieties, however, due to the complexity of determining community spread with optional masking and several community activities resuming regular operations, contact tracing is no longer a viable option. Nevertheless, the district will continue its other mitigation efforts including:

Reporting positive COVID-19 cases to the Allegheny County Health Department and taking its recommendation based on the community level.
Masks will remain available at each building for any individuals who would like one.
HEPA filters continue to run in every room.
Individuals will abide by proper social distancing procedures.
More than 70% of the ECS student population are vaccinated.

As you may know, an increase in COVID-19 cases has been reported across the country including in ECS’s K–5 grades over the course of the past three weeks. While this is expected due to students’ return from Spring Break, the district is monitoring the county’s community level. If Allegheny County transitions to a medium or high community level, the district will revisit its procedures to ensure they align with CDC guidance.

As a reminder, please make sure that you monitor your child’s symptoms and proactively test if COVID-19 symptoms are present. For positive tests, please notify your school immediately and ensure that your child does not report to the building. Positive tests taken at home should also be reported to the Allegheny County Health Department.

Please take a moment to review the district’s other recent COVID-19 procedure changes: