August 25, 2022
Dear Port Washington Community,
Our faculty and staff are very excited to welcome back all our students for the 2022-2023 school year! To help you prepare for your child’s first day back, we wanted to share with you the latest update from New York State regarding their guidance for schools in managing COVID-19 during the upcoming school year. These new guidelines are aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s movement away from strict mitigation measures. Our District Protocols Committee will be meeting on August 30, 2022 to discuss if any additional measures are necessary.
The full information can be accessed on the New York State website, but the following highlighted points will help you understand the impact on all of us as we open schools.
- In-person instruction will be provided for all students, and there will be no virtual option.
- COVID-19 vaccinations are not mandated in New York for attending school.
- Masks and face coverings are optional, and we continue to respect the decisions by students and staff on whether they choose to wear a mask or not.
- Masks are not required on school buses.
- The NYS Department of Health recommends that individuals should wear a mask during days 5-10 after testing positive for COVID-19.
- Quarantines are no longer required for close contacts.
- Isolation for five days after testing positive for COVID-19 is still in place.
- School districts are no longer required to conduct contact tracing; however, potential exposures will still be notified so that families can make informed health decisions.
- Physical distancing and cohorting is no longer recommended, so student activities and groupings will return to their pre-pandemic norms.
- We will have COVID-19 home tests from New York State available at all schools and sites for our families, and for any student or staff member who was potentially exposed and would like a test.
- Employee screening testing is no longer required.
- Schools are no longer required to report positive COVID-19 test results on a daily basis to the NYS Department of Health.
We thank you for taking the time to read this information so that you can help your child or children as they begin the school year, and we join you in looking forward to regaining a greater sense of normalcy in the year ahead.
Sincerely,
Michael Hynes, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools