KINGSTON – The Ulster County Health Department will adopt test-to-stay practices for public schools in the county.
The policy is designed to keep students, teachers and staff safe while allowing students who come in contact with an exposure but are without symptoms and test negative over a series of days to continue to attend school.
The county health department will work with schools to develop policies, procure testing, and offer technical support for districts implementing test-to-stay.
“The pandemic has highlighted not just the obvious importance of schools for our students, but also for the working parents of our community,” said County Executive Patrick Ryan.
“One objective of all Ulster County school districts was to maximize the number of students who experience in-person instruction with their teachers and classmates on a daily basis,” said BOCES Superintendent Dr. Charles Khoury. “Under the previous guidance this has been challenging. With everyone’s cooperation, especially keeping symptomatic students at home, the test-to-stay initiative should allow us to do just that.”
Supported by both the Centers for Disease Control and the State Department of Health, Test-to-Stay has been proven to reduce transmission rates in schools, officials say. Schools will be required to adopt district level policies regarding Test-to-Stay. Policies outlined by the state include the following:
- The exposure must have occurred in the school setting and while both the person with COVID-19 and exposed person were consistently and properly masked.
- The exposed person remains asymptomatic; if the exposed person who is allowed to remain in school through Test-to-Stay develops symptoms, they must be immediately excluded from school per current school guidance.
- The exposed person is tested a minimum of three times during the seven-day period following exposure, unless recognition of the exposure is delayed or weekends or school breaks intervene.
