Dear Tiger Community,
We have heard a lot of feedback from families this year, specifically regarding COVID cases and how we communicate with families in the event of a positive case. Parents/guardians will be notified of a positive case in the event their child was directly affected and further action (such as a quarantine or change to instruction) needs to be taken. That message will come in the form of an automated phone call from our health services department as soon as possible.
The Washington County Health Department has also established new quarantine protocols for 2021-22 when there is potential COVID exposure at school or on the school bus. In those cases, the district will work closely with Washington County to determine the students and staff who must quarantine.
What this means for your child is that if a student in your child’s class tests positive, your child may not necessarily be quarantined, especially if they have been appropriately masked and were not in close proximity to the positive case.
In addition to our continued parent communication:
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- We will reach out to all students and families that need to be quarantined
- We will also send an automated courtesy phone call home to families of students in UPK-5 classrooms informing them that a classmate tested positive.
- We will post a notification letter on our website hfcsd.org each time there is a positive case in our district.
Please note that New York State and federal privacy laws restrict us from disclosing or confirming any personally identifiable information. Again, we cannot identify anyone who has tested positive.
COVID-19 vaccination for eligible students is strongly encouraged. Vaccinations are currently available for all individuals 12 and older. A list of vaccination sites in Washington County can be found here or you can contact your family physician.
We hope this information helps to clear up some of the confusion around our COVID-19 communications. As always, we welcome your feedback and questions. Please drop us a line via email at questions@hfcsd.org.
Thanks for your continued support as we strive to create the best learning environment we can for our students!
Sincerely,
Dan Ward, Superintendent