A message from the Superintendent

Superintendent's Update #15

November 28, 2021

Dear Chappaqua Central School District Families and Staff,

I hope this email finds you well after the long weekend. I write to share that on Wednesday (11/23), after schools closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, superintendents and local health departments received a Revised Updated Testing and Quarantine Supplemental Information to the “Interim NYSDOH Guidance for Classroom Instruction in P-12 Schools During the 2021-2022 Academic Year.” The full document can be read here.

The Westchester County Department of Health (WCDOH) has not released any additional written information or guidance since this memo was released. As such, we will begin our Test to Stay (TTS) and Testing Out of Quarantine processes starting Monday (11/29) as outlined in Superintendent’s Update #14.

As a reminder, these testing approaches are as follows:

• Test to Stay:  Close contacts can avoid school exclusion (but not other parameters of quarantine) by testing negative with a rapid BinaxNOW test on each school day for seven days after exposure. Testing will take place at Seven Bridges Middle School from 8:05am-8:30am Monday-Friday. To sign up for a Test to Stay appointment, please visit the CCSD’s COVID Testing Management System website by 5pm.
   
• Testing Out of Quarantine:  Individuals who have been in contact with a known case of COVID-19 may get a PCR COVID test on day five (5) to be released from quarantine on day seven (7). If the test is negative, the individual will be released from quarantine on day seven (7) provided they are without symptoms. The WCDOH has not shared how students will be released from quarantine on day seven (7), however CCSD will allow students who are not participating in Test to Stay to return to school on day seven (7), provided families submit a negative PCR test to the school nurse for review in advance of attending school (students will not be allowed to return to the extracurricular program until they are released from quarantine by the WCDOH).

Please note that Test to Stay and Test Out of Quarantine are not available to families with unvaccinated children living in a household with a COVID positive individual. These students must have documentation from a medical provider to return to school as the District cannot verify the last date of exposure when a case is in the home.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding. Should the Westchester County Department of Health send out a memorandum that addresses any aspect of the NYSDOH supplemental information, I will send it to you immediately.

We look forward to welcoming our students back to school tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Christine Ackerman, PhD
Superintendent of Schools