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As we enter our third academic year after the onset of COVID, we continue the transition towards living with COVID. Testing, vaccinations, natural immunity and the evolution of the virus afford schools the ability to assume a more normalized approach and remove many of the precautions required over the last two years. This approach allows school professionals to focus nearly 100% of their time on the academic, emotional and spiritual growth of our students.
While protocols such as contact tracing have been lifted for the 2022-23 school year, the most effective precaution remains – any individual with symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home and positive individuals must isolate for a minimum of five days. Continuing to be diligent in ensuring known sick individuals stay home provides the protection to remove other administratively burdensome protocols.
The following bullets provide a summary of the COVID protocols for the 2022-2023 school year, with additional detail in the sections below:
Mask Use:
Masks remain optional for all schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago with two exceptions:
Masks Refusals
With all students mask optional unless recently positive or in a classroom with numerous cases, mask refusals should be limited this school year. However, if an individual refuses to mask in one of the situations above, please see specific guidance for scenarios in which students, parents or visitors attempt to enter the school without a mask.
Use the Mask Refusal Letter and add your school's letterhead for any parents who send their child to school without a mask.
Mask Exemptions/Waiver Requests
Requests for mask waivers fall into two categories: medically based and not medically based.
Waivers due to a medical reason
Medical mask waivers will only be granted based on a physician diagnosed medical condition that precludes wearing a mask and if a face shield is worn and distancing observed. Because mask requirements are very limited, we expect to issue very few medically-based mask waivers for our schools.
Waiver requests for other reasons
Because mask requirements will be very limited this year, we are not accepting exemptions or waiver requests for non-medical reasons. If a parent prefers that their child not mask in a required situation, parents have two options:
Any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 must isolate for a full 5 days regardless if symptoms are present or not and regardless if symptoms resolve before the 5 days are complete.
If the person is asymptomatic or symptoms resolve before the fifth day, the individual must still complete the full five days of isolation. After five-day isolation, individuals that test negative on or after day 5 may return to school mask optional, while individuals not testing or testing positive may return but must wear a mask around others through day 10. Rapid and home tests are both allowable when returning day 6 to resume mask optional. PCR tests are discouraged on day 5 or after due to their increased sensitivity and processing time.
Individuals with symptoms lasting longer than five days must wait until they are fever-free and symptoms mostly resolved for 24 hours before leaving isolation.
The Archdiocese is not collecting COVID-19 vaccination information for students and staff in Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic schools.
The Weinberg Family says: "St. Stan's has been such a wonderful choice for our family. I was very scared to send our girls to preschool during the Covid-19 pandemic but I am so happy we did. The school set protocols and followed them to a T, which allowed our students to stay in school for the entire fall semester until winter break. St. Stan's has been a very warm, welcoming community and I could not be more happy with our teachers, the management and the principal. I believe they are taking good care of our girls and we are happy to be in the St. Stan's family."
Food assistance is available at any CPS school (Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.) or food distribution centers. No enrollment/residency requirement, and no questions asked. Every package includes three days’ worth of breakfast and lunch for each student. Families may call 773-553-5437 for an emergency delivery. Learn more.
How to protect yourself and your family – Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)