Mars Area School District’s new quarantine policy, which went into effect Wednesday, makes quarantining optional for close contacts who are asymptomatic, but requires five-day quarantines for students who test positive or who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19.

Superintendent Mark Gross elaborated on the decision made at the meeting in a letter to parents Tuesday night.

“As mask use is voluntary and with the current surge in reported cases of COVID-19, the district has experienced a significant increase in the number of healthy students who are identified as close contacts and are required to quarantine,” Superintendent Mark Gross said in a letter sent to parents. “In an effort to reduce these numbers, the district will permit students who are identified as close contacts and who are not experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 to remain in school for in-person learning.”

The district plans to continue contact tracing, and will notify all close contacts by phone and or email.

“As long as they remain symptom-free, close contacts will have the option to remain in school or to quarantine at home for five days,” Gross wrote. “Parents/guardians who elect to have their child quarantined, even though they are symptom-free, are asked to contact their child’s building principal.”

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