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Dear Parents and Guardians:
I hope you are safely enjoying the first substantial snowfall in our area after many years.
While access to school facilities will be limited, all students will participate in virtual learning. We will continue with our Monday morning student check-in tomorrow (February 1) from 8:00-8:30am. We will update you and our students on changes to the Monday morning check in after we receive final guidance from FCPS leadership.
We are continuing to plan for our reopening of school.
Stay healthy; be safe; GO BULLDOGS!
Anthony E. Copeland, PhD
Executive Principal
Fairfax County Public Schools, Region 1
Interim Principal
Westfield High School
FCPS Discontinuation of Temperature Checks
Effective January 22, 2021, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) discontinued required daily temperature checks for students, staff and visitors. This decision was based on:
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not currently recommend schools conduct symptom screening for all students in grades K-12 on a routine (e.g. daily) basis.
- Symptom screening will identify only that a person might be sick, not that the person necessarily has COVID-19.
- Accuracy of thermometers is limited in extreme temperatures
The CDC recommends that parents, caregivers or guardians, should be strongly encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms of infectious illness every day through home-based symptom screening and students who are sick should not attend in-person instruction.
While FCPS will no longer be requiring daily temperature checks at bus stops and upon arrival in FCPS facilities, students, staff and visitors will still be required to continue to compete a daily health screening available at https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/HealthScreeningQuestionnaire.pdf.
Any student, staff or visitor demonstrating symptoms of illness should stay home to help “Stop the Spread” of COVID-19. Visit https://www.fcps.edu/blog/stop-spread for more information.
General Breakfast and Lunch Information
Breakfast and lunch meals are available at no-cost to all students in SY 20-21 (each student is limited to one of each meal per day) and adult meals (or second student meals) are $2.00.
As students return to school, Grab & Go meals will be offered at all locations and student PIN numbers are not needed. FNS will work with schools to implement full-service cafeteria (hot meals with limited a la carte), when schools are ready and FNS staff are able to support.
Free and reduced-price meal eligibility carried over from SY 19-20. Even though meals are no-cost this year to all students, eligibility may be tied to other benefits such as the recent P-EBT. FNS is accepting 20-21 applications online here: https://www.myschoolapps.com and paper applications by mail. Copies of paper applications are available by request.
USDA waivers allow flexibility with meal service times in SY 20-21 and there are no current limitations during the instructional day.
The availability of water is a requirement during meal service periods. Guidance regarding the use of water fountains and refillable containers is posted on the Student Health and Safety Guidance Document.
Vending machines will not be filled when students return. FNS will work with schools to make vending machines accessible to students at a later date.
Menus are currently created weekly and available online here: http://fcps.nutrislice.com/. While FNS cannot control what students bring from home, peanut butter is not currently on menus for in-person instruction.
Meal distribution will continue at Grab & Go and Meal Kit sites and on bus routes. The webpage is kept current here: https://www.fcps.edu/return-school/food.
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