COVID-19 Masking Policy

Dear Parents and Guardians,

March 13th, 2022 marks two years since COVID-19 has impacted us and how we are able to educate our students. During this time great progress, as well as some missteps, have been made in how our country has dealt with this pandemic. I appreciate your support and patience these past two years as we continued our important mission of Catholic and Lasallian education. This Monday, the schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, including Central Catholic, will transition to a mask optional policy.  The following is important information as the Diocese finalizes the health and safety plan.

• The mask optional policy allows and encourages continued mask-wearing but does not require it except in certain circumstances.
• The most effective masks are N95 or KN95 and can be purchased online or at local pharmacies. These have been shown to provide the highest level of protection from COVID-19. However, no mask provides perfect protection.
• If a student tests positive or is a close contact and returns to school after a five-day isolation or quarantine period, he must wear a mask for the next five calendar days.
• Masks must still be worn on public transportation. This includes school buses.
• When students take part in school-sponsored events that are off-site, we will follow the masking and vaccination requirements of the site. Any activity that requires a vaccination will be voluntary.
• In the event of a positive contact, we will continue to contact trace for close contacts. With mask optional, the distance for close contact goes from 3 feet to 6 feet.  
  • If the close contact is fully vaccinated and boosted and is symptom-free, he can be at school but must wear a mask for 10 days.
  • If the close contact is not fully vaccinated, he needs to quarantine for five days. After the quarantine, he can return to school but must wear a mask through day 10.
• This is a Diocesan-wide policy and may change as the conditions change in Allegheny County.
• We relaxed the shaving policy while masks were required. We will require students to be clean-shaven regardless of whether they choose to wear a mask or not.

Please continue to keep us informed if your student tests positive for COVID-19, or if he is a close contact. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Fraternally,

Brother Tony Baginski, FSC
Principal