We hope you had a nice holiday and are wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2022! As we look to Monday’s reopening of school, we want to share a few updates, reminders, and points of clarification.

First, if your child has any COVID-related symptoms (fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, aches, congestion, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, sore throat) please keep them home. Call us at school and let us know that they are staying home and at that time we can arrange for testing. We continue to have testing resources on hand and encourage our families to take advantage of this opportunity. Please note that we must have parental consent to test your child, so if you have not yet returned a consent form we are happy to provide you with an extra copy.

On the topic of tests, there is a lot in the news about testing kits being distributed to households. NYS is working on providing all school districts with at-home test kits for families. We are looking forward to receiving these kits and as soon as we have them we will share information on how they will be distributed.

Next, it is difficult to keep all of the information straight at times. We understand that fully and do our best to synthesize the information we learn. Sometimes this information is brand new to us too, so please know we're doing our very best to stay on top of things and to help clarify as needed.

For example, there are headlines that say that the isolation period for a COVID-positive person is now shortened to 5 days. In New York State, a shortened isolation period is currently only an option for those who check all of these boxes ---

1. The individual is classified as "critical workforce" (see linked release for the full list on who this applies to)

2. The individual is fully vaccinated (fully vaccinated = two weeks after second dose)

3. The individual has no symptoms (asymptomatic)

If you do not check all of those boxes and you test positive, whether you are vaccinated or unvaccinated, you are required to isolate for 10 days.

When it comes to exposure to COVID, if you are vaccinated and do not have any symptoms, you are not required to quarantine. Public Health asks that you monitor for symptoms and are tested 3-5 days after the point of exposure. However, if you are unvaccinated and are exposed to COVID, the rule that's been in place since the beginning of all of this still applies - you must quarantine for 10 days. However, something that is new for those required to quarantine is that you have the option to test-out at day 7. This test must be administered by a healthcare professional, at-home tests don't qualify.

We continue to offer Test to Stay as an option for students, and this is now also available for our staff. This is a modified quarantine for those who have a school-based exposure, are not vaccinated, and do not have any symptoms. If you are exposed and this is an option for you, public health will explain this at the time that they contact you. Anyone who participates must have a negative test each day before they enter school, which includes the school bus.

A large percentage of our school community is vaccinated. Our staff is at 100% and based on our numbers we have from before the break, 66% of our PK-12 students have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Additionally, 93% of our students are able to be tested at school based on the return of our consent to test forms.

Finally, we are part of a great county-wide team. The schools in Hamilton County are fortunate to have had testing resources available throughout this school year. As a result of this opportunity, we’ve established practices within each of our schools and we continue to improve as the circumstances continue to change. With our testing resources and adherence to safety standards, we are confident that schools are a safe place to be and we know that schools are also the best place for students to learn. We value and appreciate your continued support in our efforts to prioritize health, safety, and in-person learning.

Enjoy the rest of the break. Please reach out with any questions.

Sincerely,

Ms. Noelle J. Short

Superintendent/Principal