October: Holiday Travel Protocol
Dear Trinity Families,
Thank you very much for your continued diligence regarding Covid-19 protocols. We’ve been very fortunate this year with zero positive tests from our weekly testing program.
This note intends to provide our protocol for travel around the Thanksgiving and Winter Holidays. Of course, with new developments (i.e., vaccines or a new variant), this protocol could change, but we thought it would be helpful to communicate the protocol so families can be thoughtful in their planning.
To begin, please know Trinity will continue to take a conservative approach to our protocols to safeguard our community and continue to prioritize in-person teaching and learning. Also, know that we appreciate and understand families may decide to travel during the holidays to see family and friends. Finally, there is not a perfect solution for travel protocols in a congregate setting. We are finding different travel variations among similar schools with unvaccinated students. We understand the R-eff (rate at which Covid is spreading) is currently low at 0.73 in San Mateo County and that is very encouraging. Lesser known, however, is the long-term effects of the virus on children.
Thanksgiving and Winter Break Travel Protocol
- Current CDC Guidelines regarding Domestic Travel for People Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated state a 7 or 10 day quarantine period after travel is completed. Recommendation For People Who Are Not Fully Vaccinated
- If the student completes a PCR test 3 to 5 days following travel, and the result is negative, the student may return after the 7 day quarantine period. Given weekends, this is likely 5 school days.
- If the student does not take a PCR test, the quarantine is 10 days (this is not a possibility as Trinity is requiring a weekly test for in-person learning).
- Travel is defined by any form of public transportation such as planes, trains and buses. We understand, for example, that inside a plane is relatively safe, but it is the terminal and other gathering places/travel environments in which we are concerned.
- Common sense is at play here. For example, if a family is taking Caltrain from Menlo Park to San Bruno or a SamTrans bus from Redwood City to Palo Alto, that does not fall under the travel umbrella.
- If a family chooses to travel and the student is quarantined, asynchronous learning will be provided for the student along with a scheduled check in with the teacher. As we are prioritizing in-person learning, the asynchronous learning will not replicate a school day and running a full hybrid program (being on Zoom all day) will compromise the in-person learning.
- We have eliminated the in-state and out-of-state past protocol. That protocol does not make current sense as the guidelines have changed since last year. A family could drive to Los Angeles and spend 3 days at Disneyland and not quarantine. However, a family could drive to a remote part of Oregon and be required to quarantine.
- We are also strongly suggesting you delay activities that are considered higher risk. If a family chooses to participate in a higher risk activity, we ask the student to quarantine. Examples of higher risk activities could be a 49er game, Disneyland, weddings, or concerts. It is essential to note that Trinity cannot track all the activities of every family. We ask that families understand the risk they encounter and possible virus spread by attending such events and self-report the quarantine.
As always, my door is open if you have any questions or if there is anything I can clarify.
Matt Allio
