In a newsletter sent to Mars families, Mars Area School District laid out the policies for quarantining students in the upcoming school year.

As long as they remain asymptomatic, students from preschool to grade 12 who are identified as close contacts and who have been fully vaccinated or who were wearing an appropriate face covering at the time of initial exposure will not be required to quarantine. For vaccinated students, proof of vaccination will be required to be exempted from quarantine.

Students who are identified as close contacts who are not fully vaccinated or who were not wearing a facial covering at the time of being exposed will be sent home and required to quarantine.

All students who are required to quarantine will have access to the online Live-Stream Interactive (LSI) instruction program. They will not be allowed to return to school until 14 days after the initial date of exposure.

Students can reduce their quarantine period to 10 days without testing if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring, or to seven days with a negative PCR COVID-19 test result.

Any students who test positive for COVID-19 are required to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days.

“As a district, we are excited to welcome students back to the classroom.” Superintendent Mark Gross said in a statement. “We appreciate your patience and support as we work together to ensure a safe learning environment, while respecting everyone’s right to make their own decisions regarding the health of their children and family.”