ADAMS TWP — Mars Area School District will begin the school year Wednesday, Aug. 24, with as close to pre-COVID-19 policies as possible after school board members approved changes to the district’s health and safety plan at a special board meeting Tuesday.

Following recommendations from Superintendent Mark Gross and the district’s health and safety committee, the district has removed most provisions of its health and safety plan, including mandatory quarantines for close contacts, any form of contact tracing and all social distancing requirements.

The move is in response to Aug. 11 changes to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations, which also rolled back much of the advice for COVID-19 prevention, including the 6-foot rule of social distancing.

“If we’re given mandates, certainly, we will follow those mandates, but right now, there are no mandates,” Gross said. “What I’m recommending, and the committee is recommending, is that we go to pre-COVID protocols, that COVID is treated just like any other illness — If you’re ill, you stay home; If you’re healthy, you come; if you miss school, you can make that work up. We’re not going to quarantine students any longer.”

Students who are sick with any illness no longer will have access to Live Stream Interactive (LSI), the district’s livestreaming remote platform, which previously was used by students who were quarantining. They instead will make up their work when they return to school.

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