Vacation Travel Guidelines

February 12, 2021 

Dear RSU # 38 Families,

Each year many families use school vacation weeks for travel, but at this time such travel brings with it additional risks for contracting and transmitting COVID-19, according to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC). It is critically important that our school communities continue to do everything we can in order to keep our schools safe, open, and able to provide in-person instruction. 

The US CDC has issued strong guidance to the American people to continue to limit our interactions and travel at this time. 

We encourage families to know the risks and the requirements for travel, and to communicate with their school nurse if they are traveling. Families will receive guidance in order to return their student to school safely. 

In accordance with Maine travel guidelines, any student who travels within the US to any state other than New Hampshire or Vermont (no restrictions as of 2/08/21 for these two states only), they will be required to either: 

  1. Complete a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in Maine and continue to monitor for signs and symptoms for an additional 4 days  OR 

  2. Obtain and receive a negative COVID-19 antigen or molecular (PCR, NAAT, or isothermal) test result within 72 hours prior to arrival back into Maine to forgo the 10-day quarantine.

a. Travelers may be tested upon arrival in Maine as well but must quarantine while they wait    for test results. A negative COVID-19 antigen or molecular (PCR, NAAT, or isothermal) test result will allow the traveler to leave quarantine early. 

CDC has also provided guidance as it relates to international travel. The current risk assessment level for COVID-19 is at 4, or VERY HIGH, for nearly every country. You can review the risk levels by country, here

At this time, all air passengers coming to the United States, including U.S. citizens, are required to have a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding a flight back to the United States. See Frequently Asked Questions here.  

Upon return to the United States, a person must quarantine. Anyone who travels International can return to school after they: 

  1. Get tested 3-5 days after travel, and receive a negative test result AND stay home and self-quarantine for 7 days after travel. 

  2. Do not get tested and stay home for 10 days after travel. 

  3. Avoid being around people who are at increased risk for severe illness for 14 days, whether you get tested or not, here.  

Any students who have travelled internationally will not be permitted to return to school for a minimum of 7 days, even if a negative test has occurred. 

Returning to school after travel is not dependent on the length of time spent within the restricted states or other countries, meaning that a day visit still requires any person to quarantine and/or test as described above. All members of the household who travel must test or quarantine if over 12 months old. Testing site information for Maine can be found, here.

Any person who is quarantining should stay home, and not have in-person contact with others unless there is an emergency. 

We ask families to please continue to have their children follow best practice safety protocols: wear a mask, keep physical distance, wash their hands and monitor for symptoms, and help protect our schools and neighbors. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to your building principal or school nurse if you have any questions. 

I hope everyone has a fun, restful vacation!

Sincerely,

Jay Charette

Superintendent of Schools