Reminder on travel from Acting Superintendent DeBarbieri

Dear Parents and Guardians,
 
As our February school break approaches, I wanted to take a moment to remind families about the District’s expectations regarding New York State travel protocols. 
 
The District adheres to the state’s COVID-19 travel guidelines, which requires travelers to quarantine for 10 days if they have traveled internationally to a CDC Level 2 or higher COVID-19 related travel health notice country or to a state that does not border New York for more than 24 hours. New York is allowing travelers to “test out” of the mandatory 10-day quarantine.
 
Here’s the overview on how to “test out” using the state’s guidelines:

• Travelers must obtain a COVID-19 test within three days of trip departure, prior to arrival back home in New York.
• The traveler must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine for three days.
• On day 4 after arrival home, the traveler must obtain another COVID-19 test. If both tests are negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test.
• The NYS Traveler Health Form is available HERE.

I am sharing this information because families need to know that students must quarantine if they travel out of state during the break. Students can’t return to school until they have quarantined for 10 days or “tested out” of quarantine, using the protocol described above. As noted, the early release of quarantine (“test out”) requires completion of all steps listed above.  Failing to complete either a pre-departure return COVID-19 test from your vacation destination or after arriving home on the 4th day will result in the full 10 day quarantine. Documentation of quarantine completion must be given to your child’s school. Students will be considered absent from school if they are missing in-person instruction during their quarantine period.

We understand traveling for Winter Break or Spring Break is a family’s decision, but as a District our goal is to make sure that we are doing everything in our power to keep our students and staff safe. As COVID-19 continues to impact our community, I would encourage all of our families to consider staying local for both of our school breaks.
 
Have a great and safe weekend!
 
Sincerely,
 
Joseph M. DeBarbieri
Acting Superintendent of Schools