A message from the Superintendent

Superintendent's Update #14

January 11, 2021

Dear Chappaqua Central School District Families,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to share revised quarantine and proximate contact guidelines that were sent to me on Friday, January 8, 2021 from Dr. Amler, Commissioner of Health for the Westchester County Department of Health (WCDOH). A copy of that letter can be found here.

The WCDOH has adjusted how schools will define a “close contact” of a COVID-19 positive individual, which has implications for who must be excluded from school.

Based on this new guidance, your child will be considered a close contact, subject to school exclusion, in the following circumstances when exposed to an infectious individual: 

  • Your child was in a regular sized classroom when masks were NOT worn for 10 minutes or longer.
  • Your child was in school within six feet of an infectious person for 10 minutes or more, cumulatively, over a 24-hour period.
  • Your child was on the bus within six feet of an infectious person for 10 minutes or more.

These parameters will also apply when determining if a child will be excluded from school due to exposure outside of school at an extracurricular activity, gathering, or other circumstance where there is an interaction with a COVID-19 positive individual. It is still highly likely your child will be excluded from school if they participate in team sports or indoor individual sports and there is exposure, even if masks are worn.

As a result of this new guidance the District is taking the following immediate actions:

  • We are developing a clear seat assignment process for K-8 students to minimize and identify children who are a “close contact” of an infectious individual while riding school transportation.
  • We are identifying alternative spaces for students in grades K-8 to eat lunch.

Additionally, due to the shifts above, the District will communicate to families when we confirm a positive COVID-19 case in the aggregate by building, and will share this new structure at our Board of Education business meeting on 1/13/21.

We anticipate that the above steps and the new communication structure will be implemented by Tuesday, January 19, 2021.

In light of this new information, if your child tests positive for COVID-19, please be prepared to do the following:

  1. Send your building principal a copy of your child’s test results (even if they are a remote student). We need this information to begin our process and report our information accurately to the New York State Department of Health.
  2. Provide a list of all CCSD individuals your child was within 6 feet of, for 10 or more cumulative minutes, over a 24 hour period, with a mask on.
  3. Provide a list of all CCSD individuals your child was in a space with, without a mask on, for 10 or more minutes.
  4. Provide a list of teams, activities, meetings, classes, etc. that your child participated in while infectious (the infectious period is two days prior to symptom onset or two days prior to test date if asymptomatic).

Your building principal will send you revised procedures and I will share the details regarding our new case notification process by Friday, January 15, 2021. Thank you for your consideration, support and flexibility. Please reach out to your building principal with any questions regarding this notification.

Sincerely,

Christine Ackerman, PhD
Superintendent of Schools