Community Music School’s Health and Safety Plan was developed in accordance with the latest CDC guidelines and PA State Health Department recommendations. The Plan has been approved by the Health and Safety Committee of the CMS Board of Directors and may be revised as needed. This revision is effective December 11, 2024.
SUMMARY
Community Music School (CMS) will continue to offer students and teachers the option of online lessons or in-person music lessons in the CMS building at 1544 Hamilton Street in Allentown, PA, and at our Berks County studio at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA.
RECOMMENDATION FOR ANNUAL VACCINATION OF ALL CMS EMPLOYEES
In accordance with the CDC guidelines, CMS strongly recommends that all employees and contractors be annually vaccinated against influenza. Adults aged 60 and older, especially those with underlying health conditions, should receive the RSV vaccine.
Additionally, CMS strongly recommends that all employees and contractors be annually vaccinated against COVID-19.
MASKING RECOMMENDATIONS
CMS encourages everyone to wear facemasks if they choose to do so, but does not require masks in our buildings, with the following important exception:
1. At an individual faculty member’s sole discretion, she/he may require students and parents to be masked during their lessons, and students and parents must comply.
a. CMS office staff will notify current in-person students of their teacher’s masking requirement prior to their lessons.
The CMS Front Office in Allentown has a supply of facemasks in case students or teachers request one. Whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated, all persons may choose to wear a mask that fully covers their nose and mouth before they enter the CMS building. Masks should not be worn by:
1. Students younger than 2 years old
2. Anyone who experiences trouble breathing
3. Anyone who is unconscious, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
Feasibility and Adaptations CDC recognizes that wearing masks may not be possible in every situation or for some people. In some situations, wearing a mask may exacerbate a physical or mental health condition, lead to a medical emergency, or introduce significant safety concerns. Adaptations and alternatives should be considered whenever possible to increase the feasibility of wearing a mask or to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading if it is not possible to wear one. See the CDC’s website for further guidance.
ILLNESS POLICIES
Teachers, staff and students who are sick, should stay home and monitor health. Anyone displaying symptoms of a communicable sickness may not remain in an in-person music lesson.
STUDIO PLAN FOR STUDENT EXHIBITING ILLNESS
The student will be isolated from the rest of the students in the designated isolation space, and CMS staff will contact the parent. Any instruments and studios that the student was in contact with will be sanitized. If necessary, students will be relocated to another studio until the space is safe to re-enter.
ISOLATION RECOMMENDATIONS ACCORDING TO CDC GUIDELINES
COVID-19: Individuals who test positive should isolate for at least 5 days. They can end isolations if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and other symptoms have improved.
Influenza and RSV: Individuals with symptoms should stay home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications and other symptoms have improved.
WHEN TO RETURN TO WORK OR CMS FOR IN-PERSON LESSONS
Teachers, staff, and students will follow CDC guidelines and CMS policies to determine when they can return to work or school, which is not to return to work until fever and or symptom free for 24 hours.
STUDENT AND PARENT ARRIVAL
If students, parents, or family members are sick or may have had COVID-19, Influenza or RSV exposure, they may not enter the CMS building or attend in-person lessons. Provided their household is symptom-free, they do not have a fever, and they are feeling well, CMS students, parents, and siblings will enter the building through the main door.
Students are encouraged to wash their hands in the hall bathrooms before they begin their lessons.