Students return to school from the long winter recess on Monday, Jan. 3, as local COVID-19 cases are on the rise and home testing kids are in short supply across the state. In response to this, the Governor announced earlier this week that New York State will be providing schools with additional testing kits so every student has the opportunity to test. We anticipate these additional tests to arrive in the district sometime next week.
As
communicated to families on Dec. 20, the district is offering free rapid COVID-19 testing to all students and staff members when we return to school Monday in all buildings until 12:30 p.m. If you wish to have your child tested upon return to school, please complete the following
form linked here, or contact your child’s school nurse.
Additionally, the county has adopted the
Test to Stay program. The program is designed to reduce the number of days an unvaccinated student is required to quarantine, while keeping the student and others safe. We will share additional details regarding the Test to Stay program and its implications for school attendance next week. It is important to note that the Test to Stay program only applies to quarantines as a result of an in-school contact. As of today, New York State has not changed their quarantine period; it remains 10 days for students. These additional testing kits will also be used to support the Test to Stay program.
While there is no requirement to test in order to return to school, we encourage you to do so in support of our ongoing effort to continue in-person instruction, and keep our school community healthy. Thank you for your continued support in ensuring the safest school environment for all students to learn, grow and succeed.