Good evening WG Families and Caregivers:
I hope you had a wonderful week, and you are staying healthy and warm as we encounter our first major winter weather of the season. This past week was challenging as the rapid changes to our pandemic protocols left us confused and frustrated. I am sure you are feeling the same way. Two significant changes came about last week (1) New York State is no longer mandating contact tracing, and (2) the Department of Health updated the quarantine requirements. I will briefly address both changes. However, please know that this information may change prior to our return on Tuesday.
Updates to Contact Tracing:
Late last week, State Health officials announced that they would no longer require contact tracing. However, they are allowing local health departments to mandate schools to continue the contact tracing process. With that said, Schuyler County Public Health is requiring all county school districts to contact trace until further notice.
Update to Quarantine Requirements:
On Friday evening, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) released the charts below, summarizing the new and updated requirements. Our District is participating in the Test to Stay (TTS) program. If you have questions, please contact your child’s Main Office.
The charts from NYSDOH are below:
**Per Schuyler County Public Health, students ages 12-17 who are fully vaccinated but not yet boosted, have a grace period until February 17, 2022, to get boosted. This is specific to the highlighted information above.
I understand that this is a lot of information. However, I want you to be informed.
Thank you for your patience as work to make our TTS procedures more effective and efficient. Thank you for your patience as we work through staffing shortages across our school family. Thank you for all you are doing to support our school system as we work hard to keep our focus on in-person learning. Thank you for your commitment to helping keep our students and staff safe and healthy.
Stay warm. Say safe. Go Senecas!
Respectfully,
Kai D'Alleva
Superintendent of Schools