In an effort to provide a safe and smooth transition back to onground learning after Spring Break:
- We will be requiring pooled testing through the school on April 6 or 7 to return from Spring Break, and
- We are requiring everyone to comply with our travel regulations, detailed below
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The reason for this protocol is that we need to ensure that people are receiving a lab-confirmed PCR test as per our policy, and are being tested during the correct time period to have the results returned to us in time to return onground safely. We have chosen these dates for testing to capture possible exposure due to activities and travel during our two-week spring break as well as to receive results as close to our return to onground as possible.
We Are REQUIRING Pooled Testing to Return Onground After Spring Break
- All faculty, staff, and students must participate in pooled testing to return onground after Spring Break, regardless of their travel or vaccination status.
- Vials must be picked up and returned in person at the South Building Entrance on Tuesday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 7, for return on Wednesday, April 7. If your child accompanies you when you pick up the test on either day, you can have them take the test outside the school building and return it on the same day. Hours for pickup and drop off are 7:30 am to 7:00 pm on both days.
- Participants must have been in New York or contiguous states on or before Saturday, April 3, to be in compliance.
- If your student misses the pooled testing, the next entry point to come onground is Monday, April 19 (one week after onground school begins). You must submit a negative PCR test for your child taken on or after April 12 and submitted no later than noon on April 16 to be permitted onground on April 19.
- Students who miss the pooled testing will be allowed to participate in remote instruction, but we cannot guarantee that they will be learning with their onground podmates for this period. Teachers need to plan for students to be either onground or remote for a defined period of time, and it is too disruptive to have multiple entry points to return onground. Details regarding remote instruction will be provided to families who miss the pooled testing during the week we are on distance learning.
All Families/Staff Must Comply with Our Travel Requirements if Traveling Over Spring Break
New York State recently announced it will revise its guidelines to remove the quarantine requirement for domestic travel, effective April 1. Unfortunately, this decision comes while our state is still experiencing elevated positivity rates, and while our children cannot yet be vaccinated. We are very concerned that relaxing restrictions the week before our Spring Break begins will negatively impact our ability to return onground safely on April 12.
In short, our policies will not change with regard to returning onground after Spring Break. We will still require families to return to New York or contiguous states by April 3 in order to participate in our mandatory pooled testing on April 6 and 7 at the school.
Here’s why:
The updated guidelines specifically state that teachers, school employees, and child care workers must still quarantine for a minimum of 3 days after returning to New York from a non-contiguous state due to the sensitivity of education and child care services in congregate settings. By definition, the students in our community are also part of this congregate setting, and should abide by these same quarantine requirements.
For the return after Spring Break: We will still require families to return to New York or contiguous states by April 3 in order to participate in our mandatory pooled testing on April 6 and 7 at the school. We are holding to our current policy: if you return to the state after April 3, and your student misses the pooled testing, the next entry point to come onground is Monday, April 19 (one week after onground school begins). You must submit a negative PCR test for your child taken on or after April 12 and submitted no later than noon on April 16 to be permitted onground on April 19. The reasoning behind this is if someone is exposed to the virus while traveling, that exposure will not register on a COVID-19 test for several days after travel due to the incubation period for the virus.
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