COVID Testing

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Starting the week of February 1,the District will begin voluntary COVID-19 testing. The goal is to test approximately 5% of in-person students and staff each week. This testing is being completed at the recommendation of the Monroe County Health Department to assist in identifying asymptomatic cases or local clusters. 

 Please read the following information:

• All testing is voluntary. Only students whose parents/guardians provide consent for testing will be tested. 

• The District will be administering the Abbott BinaxNOW rapid test. The test involves a shallow nasal swab. Many students can self-administer this swab under the supervision of the school nurse. 
• This testing is for surveillance purposes only. If your child is experiencing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, please do not send them to school. Contact your healthcare provider for further instructions.
• All testing will take place during school hours. Students will be called to the nurse’s office for the testing. For secondary students, testing will occur during study hall periods whenever possible. Due to current visitor restrictions, parents will not be able to be present for this testing. 
• Testing should take less than 10 minutes. Students will not have to wait to return to class while the test is processing. 
• School nurses will contact parents/guardians of any student whose test is positive. If a student tests positive, they will have to be picked up from school as soon as possible. 

• Parents/guardians of students who were tested and had a negative result will receive an email at the end of the day indicating that their child was tested and the results were negative. 
• Students that have recovered from COVID-19 cannot participate in this testing until 90 days have passed, due to the possibility of a false positive result.
• The results of all tests, as well as the demographic information of those being tested are required to be reported to the New York State Department of Health and the Monroe County Department of Public Health within 24 hours of the test being administered.

 

Parents/guardians that would like to opt their child in to the voluntary testing should visit the Infinite Campus School Store to complete the required consent. For support with Infinite Campus visit this link . Participation is opt in only; parents/guardians that do not want their child to participate do not need to do anything. Participation can be discontinued at any time by contacting the school nurse.

 

General results of the voluntary testing, including number of individuals tested and positivity rate, will be shared as a part of the District’s weekly COVID-19 Communication. Thank you for your continued partnership and trust as we navigate this pandemic. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Liz Thornton

Director of Student Services