Yellow Zone COVID Testing Information
December 16, 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians,
It has been the goal of the Granville Central School district to provide your child with the education they need and deserve during this difficult time. We have been met with many obstacles that we feel we have been able to overcome or adapt to. In the interest of keeping our families informed of any changes that occur at the Granville Central School District we would like to address the topic of testing our students, faculty, and staff for COVID-19 as directed by the New York State Cluster Action Initiative.
Under the NYS Cluster Action Initiative regional areas of the state could be placed in yellow, orange or red zones. Determination of these zones is dependent on positivity rates, new cases and hospital admissions. If the Granville Central School District was to be placed in a yellow zone (the least restrictive zone), we could continue to remain open to in-person instruction as long as we follow specific testing procedures. These procedures mandate us to perform random COVID-19 tests on 20% of our in-person population (students, faculty, and staff). This testing must take place over a 2-week period following the designation of a yellow zone. It is possible that if the results of our testing yield lower positivity rates than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, then we will no longer be required to test as long as we remain in a yellow zone. Should our results show a higher positivity rate than the yellow zone, we will have to continue to test another unique 20% of individuals on a bi-weekly basis. This is the minimum standard we must adhere to. If we were to be placed in an orange or a red zone, we would have to test a larger percentage of our population.
Every student that is tested for COVID-19 has to give consent. No child will be tested without parent/guardian consent. If we do not receive enough consent to test 20% of the in-person population then we will have to resort to fully remote instruction. The consent form is available on the school’s website. If you are unable to access that, please let us know and one will be mailed to you. Any students who are currently fully remote do not need to have consent as they will not be tested. No student will be excluded from in-person if they do not have consent.
We are working with an independent agency, Adirondack Health and Wellness, who will be performing the tests should it become necessary. A quick video is available on our website to reference how a test is performed. An informational guide of Frequently Asked Questions is also available on the website. We encourage you to view and discuss these with your child. The goal is to inform them not to scare them.
If you have questions regarding testing, we ask that you reach out to your child’s school nurse. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.
How is the testing performed -
Click to see the video