Feb. 18, 2021
Contributed by Shaundor Chillingworth
Aloha nui e ko Kamehameha Hawaiʻi ē,
Having many of our students back on-campus in this new year has brought so much joy to our kauhale, and it’s been exciting to see what has been taking place in our hybrid learning models. Mahalo nui loa for the kākou effort! We greatly appreciate everyone’s commitment to the adjustments, trust in each other, and adherence to the important safety protocols in place.
With four weeks until spring break, we want to provide important information so you may plan accordingly.
DISTANCE LEARNING THE WEEK FOLLOWING SPRING BREAK
We will take the added precaution of holding classes via distance learning from home for that week of March 22-25 (with March 26 off for the Prince Kūhiō holiday) as we did to start school in January following winter break. On-campus learning will resume on March 29. While conditions in our community have been improving, taking this step reduces potential risk of COVID-19 spread due to travel or activities that may have taken place during spring break.
REMINDER ABOUT TRAVEL AND REQUIRED NOTIFICATIONS
Kamehameha Schools policy requires notification by anyone traveling off-island, if you plan to be on-campus within the 10 days following your return. The notification procedure is fairly simple. Please refer to our student travel page for links to both the pre-travel and post-travel notifications forms.
On the post-travel notification, you will also need to provide:
- A boarding pass
- Test results (and confirmation from a trusted travel partner)
- Safe Travels Program Clearance (make sure it includes the Screened and Exempt information as seen below)
Inter-island travel
The procedure for inter-island travel is exactly the same as the county’s requirements to avoid the mandatory 10-day quarantine. A second test is not required for inter-island travel. If a medical exemption is received, then that is the only document required for notification.
Out-of-state travel
A second PCR test to confirm a negative COVID-19 diagnosis is required if traveling out-of-state. This test can only be taken after the fifth day following your return. For example, if you arrive on Sunday, the soonest this test could be taken is Friday. You should plan to be off-site for at least a week. A post-travel notification is not required to be submitted until after you complete this step.
If a decision is made to not take this second test, but a student was scheduled to be on-campus within the 10 days following their return, please contact your child’s front office to make appropriate arrangements.
Clearance from our travel team is required before anyone can return to campus within the 10 day period following travel, as noted in the daily wellness check. The 10-day period begins the day after your arrival and you are eligible to return to campus after the tenth day. The travel policy may be subject to change per state and county guidelines, and we will inform you of changes as soon as possible.
All of these details are available on the Student Travel Resources page, which is linked under COVID Resources on our KS Hawaiʻi website. If there are any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at kshawaii@ksbe.edu.
Be on the lookout for another email regarding the opt-in for voluntary COVID-19 testing for haumāna and the authorization needed to be eligible.
Mahalo for your commitment to these new protocols and procedures so that we can continue to keep our campus community safe.
Having students on-campus, regularly in this new year has been a tremendous and uplifting joy. Third graders were exploring magnetic forces last week in their science class.
This is what we are looking for with the Safe Travels QR code (with name of the traveler identified).