Jamestown School Board President Paul Abbott and JPS School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker
The Jamestown School Board discussed whether to implement “test to stay” in the district following updated guidance from both the Chautauqua County Health Department and State Department of Health.
The “test to stay” program is where an asymptomatic student who is quarantined because of close contact with a positive case in the school can take a COVID-19 test to determine if they are negative and be able to return to school.
School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the Chautauqua County Health Department gave the authorization to school districts Tuesday afternoon to implement “test to stay” programs which was then followed several hours later by the New York State Department of Health saying districts had that option as long as the county health departments gave the okay, “But I’m hearing two things from the state. One, they’re leaning more toward a five day quarantine than to a ten day quarantine, which was reduced to seven days technically a few weeks ago, but they’re leaning more toward a five day than a ten day. But the second thing is, they’re saying, ‘The CDC has come out with some changes soon so hang on and give us a couple of days to sort out when that comes out we’ll give you more guidance.'”
Whitaker said a pilot program on “test to stay” had been done in two areas of the state including Saratoga County and zero cases of COVID-19 were found after students came back who had tested negative.
Board President Paul Abbott said the authorization didn’t require the district to implement the program, “But when it’s such a fluid situation, it seems difficult to set policy. And it’s certainly premature. Granted, we’ve been in COVID for such a long time, but I don’t think this is something we can decide tonight but I can imagine that it is something that we’re going to have to make a decision as a district very soon.”
Other board members echoed Abbott’s concern about not just guidelines being in flux but also how the District would implement the program. The board is expected to revisit the topic at its next meeting on January 18, 2022.
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