A message from the Superintendent

Superintendent’s Update #22

December 31, 2021

Dear Chappaqua Central School District Families and Staff,

I hope this email finds you well. I write to share some important information for your consideration as we reopen our schools on Monday, January 3, 2022.

I want to assure you that the safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance as it is central to every decision we make. I also understand how important it is for our students to be in school and all of us are committed to keeping schools open. As acknowledged by the medical community, the mental health toll on students due to remote instruction is significant. Therefore, please know that we will only move to remote instruction if the NYSDOH, WCDOH or the Governor closes our school district; or we are unable to staff our classes. As of right now, we are able to open and will do so on Monday.

In anticipation of opening on Monday (1/3/22) please be advised of the following:

COVID-19 Testing Available to all CCSD Students Before Classes Resume (we will operate a 2 hour delay schedule): The NYSDOH delivered approximately 3,550 iHealth antigen rapid tests to our District and shared this guidance memo with superintendents on how we should use them.

As a result of this decision by the NYSDOH, all CCSD asymptomatic students who wish to be tested by either an iHealth antigen rapid test or a BinaxNow Ag Card before school on Monday may make an appointment using this Appointment Form. We plan to test students between 8am-10am on Monday morning at Seven Bridges Middle School. To facilitate student testing, the District will operate on a 2-hour delay schedule. All staff will report to work at their regularly scheduled time. Staff who wish to be tested may schedule an appointment on the COVID Testing Management System from 3-5pm on Monday afternoon.

While the District cannot require testing for students as a condition of attending school on site unless directed to do so by the Department of Health (you can read the NYSED memo that prohibits this practice here), I ask you to strongly consider having your child tested if they traveled or attended an event with an increased likelihood of exposure and have yet to be tested.

You must schedule your child’s appointment by 5pm on Sunday, January 2, 2022. At 6pm, those who scheduled an appointment for testing will receive confirmation, additional information about the testing process, and a consent form which must be printed and completed prior to testing.
Test to Stay: We will continue our Test to Stay program until the end of January. At that point, all children would have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated. Unfortunately, after my 12/21/21 letter, the NYSDOH and WCDOH restricted the program by limiting Test to Stay to school exposure only. Therefore we will limit the use of this strategy moving forward to unvaccinated students designated as close contacts by CCSD due to a school exposure.
Extracurricular Programs/Outside Use of Facilities: CCSD will operate our normal extracurricular schedule. We will also allow our outside groups to use our facilities. However, if there is an exposure at any non-district event that requires students to be excluded from school, Test to Stay is not an option. Please note there is a high likelihood of school exclusion for unvaccinated masked students who participate in basketball and wrestling when there is an infectious participant.
Transportation: The District will begin checking K-8 student attendance and seating assignments upon arrival and before students leave grounds in the afternoon each day. This may cause a delay for our elementary runs, but this step is absolutely necessary based on recent experiences with contact tracing on the bus.

Please see the below chart to review the number of new COVID-19 cases from 12/22/21 to 12/31/21:

Number of New COVID-19 Positive Cases
Lab Confirmed & Reported To WCDOH
12/22/21 - 12/31/21
(Wednesday - Friday)
As of 7PM

School	New Cases by Bldg. Person WAS infectious while onsite	New Cases by Bldg. Person was NOT Infectious while onsite	New Individuals Excluded from Bldg. due to Onsite Exposure
Roaring Brook	2	2	9
Westorchard	-	6	-
Grafflin	3	-	6
Bell	6	7	-
Seven Bridges	-	6	-
Greeley	5	7	-
District Office/Maintenance	2	2	-
Total (12/22-12/31)	18	30	15

Number of New COVID-19 Positive Cases
Home Test (not reported to WCDOH)
12/22/21 - 12/31/21
(Wednesday - Friday)

School	# of Positive Tests	School	# of Positive Tests
Roaring Brook	-	Bell	5
Westorchard	1	Seven Bridges	3
Grafflin	2	Horace Greeley	5
District Office/Maintenance	1	Total	17

The WCDOH has instructed school districts to not report cases and close contacts of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 on home tests.

Please see the percent of students fully vaccinated by building as of 12/31/21:

School	% of Students Fully Vaccinated
Roaring Brook	59%
Westorchard	56%
Grafflin	58%
Bell	77%
Seven Bridges	75%
Greeley	96%

Please allow me to also remind you of the following student COVID procedures over the holiday break as outlined in my 12/21/21 memo:

COVID Positive Child (result is certified by a lab) Send copy of positive result by email to your school nurse, building principal and me (chackerman@chappaquaschools.org). In your email include details regarding test administration & symptomatic period: Date test was administered and date symptoms started (if applicable). Close contact information at school (ex. did the student ride the bus while infectious?). Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you on Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school. Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School
...new as of 12/31/21 COVID Positive Child (home test) Send notification email to the school nurse and building principal. Work with your child’s physician to obtain the necessary clearance to return to school (the District will not contact trace when a student is positive on a home test and these students will not be reported to the WCDOH as per their instruction). Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you on Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school. Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School
Unvaccinated Child - COVID Positive Household Member Send documentation requiring quarantine to the school nurse (ex. quarantine order, medical note, positive result from household member). Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school. Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School (This includes children who are exposed before they are fully vaccinated -- a child is fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose is administered.)
Unvaccinated Child - Exposed Over Break (outside of school) Send documentation of a negative PCR result administered on the fifth day after exposure to return to school on day seven. Do not send your child to school on Monday (1/3/22) until cleared by the school nurse. Send documentation requiring quarantine to the school nurse in order to access remote instruction. (This includes children who are exposed before they are fully vaccinated -- a child is fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose is administered.)

COVID Positive Child (result is certified by a lab)

Send copy of positive result by email to your school nurse, building principal and me (chackerman@chappaquaschools.org).
In your email include details regarding test administration & symptomatic period:
- Date test was administered and date symptoms started (if applicable).
- Close contact information at school (ex. did the student ride the bus while infectious?).
Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you on Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school.

Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School

...new as of 12/31/21
COVID Positive Child (home test)

Send notification email to the school nurse and building principal.
Work with your child’s physician to obtain the necessary clearance to return to school (the District will not contact trace when a student is positive on a home test and these students will not be reported to the WCDOH as per their instruction).
Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you on Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school.

Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School

Unvaccinated Child - COVID Positive Household Member

Send documentation requiring quarantine to the school nurse (ex. quarantine order, medical note, positive result from household member).
Do not send your child to school on Monday, January 3, 2022. Your building nurse will contact you Monday morning (1/3/22) to facilitate your child’s access to remote instruction or return to school.

Medical Clearance Needed for the Child to Return to School
(This includes children who are exposed before they are fully vaccinated -- a child is fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose is administered.)

Unvaccinated Child - Exposed Over Break (outside of school)

Send documentation of a negative PCR result administered on the fifth day after exposure to return to school on day seven. Do not send your child to school on Monday (1/3/22) until cleared by the school nurse.
Send documentation requiring quarantine to the school nurse in order to access remote instruction.

(This includes children who are exposed before they are fully vaccinated -- a child is fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose is administered.)

The District will continue our layered mitigation strategies (hand washing, weekly testing of unvaccinated staff, deep cleaning, social distancing and masking) to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our school community. If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to your child’s building principal.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Sincerely,

Christine Ackerman, PhD
Superintendent of Schools