January 4, 2022

Good Afternoon, 

The top priority of the Whitehall Central School District is to offer a safe and secure environment where students can attend in-person learning 100% of the time.  

As you may be aware, throughout the holiday recess, the NYS Department of Health, Governor Hochul, and State Health Commissioner Dr. Bassett, have all released guidance memos that address potential new protocols related to school districts and COVID-19. Included within these messages was a statement that over 37 million rapid tests have been ordered by the state and that these tests will be delivered to each school district for use and distribution. 

Yesterday morning, the district received a small supply of kits. These tests come with instructions for use that must be followed whether given at home or at school. Here are the directions on how to administer the test and a short video.

Tests given at home by a parent can be considered only advisory to the family and cannot be accepted by the school as an official test result. If you would like a test kit to use at home for your child, tests are available for pick up and sign out (1 per school-age child) in the district’s main offices. Please recognize that if the rapid test comes back positive, your child would be expected to take the more reliable PCR test from a certified healthcare professional or clinic and start the quarantine process. Tests will be available Wednesday, January 5, 2022, for those that would like them and can be picked up in the Main Office of your child’s building.

The district will also be initiating a "Test To Stay Program" that will begin on Monday, January 10, 2022, for asymptomatic (no symptoms) unvaccinated school-based close contacts of a COVID positive individual. The Test to Stay program is intended to avoid school exclusion (but not other restrictions of quarantine) by testing negative through serial testing using rapid NAAT or antigen tests during a seven-day period following a school or district transportation exposure.

The exposed person must be tested before school in the nurse’s office a minimum of three times during a 7-day period following exposure. The person must have a negative test and be asymptomatic to return, but can do so without quarantine under this guidance. With the exception of attending school, the student/person is quarantined for all other activities, including extracurricular and athletics. Click here for more information about Test-To-Stay  Having an adequate testing supply here on campus will determine our ability to implement and sustain this program.

It continues to be critically important that if your student is displaying any COVID-like symptoms or is not feeling well, students, faculty and staff are still required to follow the NYS DOH algorithm for return to school.

As always, I continue to appreciate your patience and support as we work through this challenging time together.  As soon as I have approval from the Washington County Department of Health for our TTS Protocols, I will share them with the community.  On behalf of the district administration, faculty, staff, and Board of Education I would like to wish everyone a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Patrick Dee
Superintendent of Schools

Click here for Test To Stay Protocol