Please see the following message from Superintendent Chevrier about parent/guardian consent for in-school COVID-19 surveillance and point of care testing.
All 2021-2022 school COVID-19 updates can be found on the district’s 2021-2022 Reopening & COVID-19 Updates page here.
Dear Parents & Guardians,
Schodack CSD is now required by the New York State Department of Health to test unvaccinated staff and offer to test unvaccinated students whose parents or guardians consent to this weekly testing.
We will be offering general testing in the near future to comply with this state requirement as well as expand point of care testing for students who are displaying COVID-19 symptoms.
General surveillance testing will be used to detect asymptomatic COVID-19 infections in unvaccinated students and staff using a rapid antigen test. These tests will be performed on-site at your child’s school each week. Screening testing is intended to identify infected people without symptoms (or before the development of symptoms) who may be contagious so that measures can be taken to prevent further transmission. The intent is to use the screening testing results as a protective measure that will be taken and to identify and isolate asymptomatic positive persons to prevent spread.
Diagnostic point of care testing for COVID-19 is intended to identify an occurrence of COVID-19 infection at the individual level and is performed when there is a reason to suspect that an individual may be infected, such as having symptoms or suspected recent exposure. Examples of point of care testing strategies include testing symptomatic teachers, students, and staff who develop symptoms in school and testing asymptomatic individuals who were exposed to someone with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19. Point of care testing will be conducted using rapid molecular testing involving the same shallow swab as the rapid antigen test. This will provide a quick result in the case of a student or staff member who began presenting symptoms while at school, regardless of vaccination status.
We are asking that all parents/guardians please indicate their consent for these tests online using FamilyID. You may consent to one, both or none. Please complete the online consent form by November 3, 2021. You will need to create a FamilyID account if you do not have one.
Fill out the COVID-19 Testing Consent Form on FamilyID here.
FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to provide permissions, submit forms and register for programs. The district is already utilizing this platform for athletics registration and will be using it more frequently going forward. When you register through FamilyID, the system keeps track of your information in your FamilyID profile. You enter your information only once for each family member for multiple uses and multiple programs.
We anticipate that surveillance testing will begin for unvaccinated students in early November and point of care testing shortly thereafter. For vaccinated students who consent to surveillance testing, we would begin testing once a more consistent supply of testing kits is guaranteed. Members of our school staff along with Questar III BOCES nurses will oversee all testing, which involves gently swabbing the inner part of the lower nostril, these are not the deep nasal swab tests.
Regular testing will help protect everyone against COVID-19. Thank you for your continued flexibility, resilience, and patience as we work together to contain the spread of this virus.
Sincerely,
Jason M. Chevrier
Superintendent of Schools
