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Committee amends elementary quarantine guidance and approves ESSER‑funded district social worker job
Summary
The committee moved to narrow elementary quarantine protocols to targeted close‑contact tracing (adding lunch) and approved a 12‑month district social worker job description funded initially by ESSER III; both actions passed via voice votes without numerical tallies recorded in the transcript.
On April 8 the Blackstone‑Millville Regional School Committee approved two administrative actions affecting student health procedures and student supports.
First, the committee amended elementary COVID quarantine guidance so that close contacts would be identified by seating charts and a two‑day lookback rather than automatically quarantining entire classrooms. The revised language clarifies that close contact can include class time, recess, the school bus and lunch; the committee directed that close contacts be notified rather than sending a notice to the entire class. Members discussed monitoring recess playgroups and the practicality of tracing informal outdoor contacts; administrators said staff will continue to keep classes separate at recess and that contact tracing procedures used at secondary levels had worked without producing large in‑school transmission increases. The motion to amend the handbook carried on a voice vote; the transcript does not provide a numerical tally.
Second, the committee approved a job description for a 12‑month district social worker with a salary range of $70,000–$80,000 to be paid initially from ESSER III funds. Administrators said the position is intended to provide wraparound services and care coordination for families with tier‑three needs (homelessness, food insecurity, complex clinical needs) and to plan summer and ongoing supports; the social worker will report to the director of learner support services. Committee members discussed preferred qualifications (bachelor’s minimum, master’s preferred/licensure typical for clinical social work). The job description vote passed by voice; again, a numerical tally was not recorded in the transcript.
Both changes were described as administrative and grant‑funded short‑term measures; administrators said ESSER III will cover the social worker’s salary initially and that they would seek to add the position to the regular budget later, subject to committee approval.
