New Milford students banned from prom due to COVID exposure plan night out — in their prom dresses.
New Milford seniors exposed to someone with COVID-19 spend Saturday — last day of quarantine — in prom clothes
“Even though we tested negative for COVID, they told us we still have to quarantine and can’t attend prom nor consider moving the prom date.”
Alyssa Milczarski New Mlford High School snior
NEW MILFORD — While Alyssa Milczarski isn’t allowed to attend senior prom Saturday night, she still plans to go out for a fun time — and wear her prom dress.
For the past two weeks, Milczarski and other New Milford High School seniors have been quarantining at home and taking classes remotely because they came into contact with another student who tested positive for COVID-19.
“The school says we were exposed last Thursday when we were at school, at lunch outside with our friends. Then we got called down to the nurse’s office that following Monday and they said we were contact traced and we had to quarantine for 14 days,” said Milczarski, 18.
Saturday marks the last day of quarantining for Milczarski and the other students who were exposed.
“Even though we tested negative for COVID, they told us we still have to quarantine and can’t attend prom nor consider moving the prom date,” said Milczarski, adding there is a total of about 20 students who can’t attend prom.
Milczarski said she and her friends are upset since students who were exposed meet the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
CDC guidelines say quarantine times can be reduced to seven days after receiving a negative COVID test on or after the fiveday mark.
In a letter to the New Milford school community on Thursday, Superintendent Alisha DiCorpo reminded parents that the district follows the 10-day quarantine guidance for people known to be close contacts of cases of COVID-19.
“After seven days, persons need to continue to take the measures needed to prevent COVID-19, including but not limited to: wearing a mask when out in public and avoiding gatherings with people who are not in your immediate household,” according to the CDC guidance that DiCorpo included in the memo to parents.
“The district’s medical advisor and the local health director support the school district’s decision to continue utilizing the 10-day quarantine period guidance,” DiCorpo wrote in her letter.
She also wrote that students who were deemed a close contact, meaning they were within 3 to 6 feet for more than 15 minutes or 15 minutes over the course of the day to someone who tested positive, cannot test out of the 10-day required quarantine.
DiCorpo’s letter said the only exceptions were if students had COVID-19 in the prior 90 days or 14 days have elapsed since they received their final vaccine shot.
DiCorpo and New Milford’s principal did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
Milczarski said she is scheduled to receive her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine dose on Wednesday.
Milczarski said she and her friends who were exposed are planning to continue remote learning until two weeks after they have been vaccinated. She said they don’t want to miss the remaining senior activities because of quarantine rules.
Last week, New Milford High School students started a petition on change.org called Prom 2021, requesting the prom date be pushed back to allow for more students to attend. More than 200 people have signed, and there were more than 20 comments posted in support.
Not being allowed to attend prom is not stopping Milczarski and her friends from enjoying a night on the town.
“About four or five of us are going out anyway, in our prom dresses,” she said. “We figured it’s prom night and we should do something.”
Their evening plans include a Japanese restaurant and a local recreation center, according to Milczarski, who purchased an aqua-colored prom dress.
“We will hang out in our dresses,” she said. “We figured we might as well wear them since we can’t wear them to prom.”