Maintaining our schools in person learning status requires everyone’s cooperation with the safety protocols established by the GNPS District, both in school and outside of school. Thank you for doing your part.
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Why does North High School stay open while other high schools have to close when there are COVID cases?
The GNPS district has developed its own contact tracing protocol that assists the Nassau County Department of Health (DOH). The Nassau County DOH has identified GNPS COVID and contact tracing protocols as best practices. Our own district contact traces and identifies the following:
In almost every case, the parents/guardians of students attending GNPS district are doing the right thing by notifying the school district first. The district becomes aware of identified COVID case and begins contact tracing BEFORE the DOH contacts them. Other districts wait for the DOH to contact them first, and then proceed with the steps that the GNPS district has set in place. This is the main reason why contact tracing takes longer in other districts and why they need to close their schools, while ours remain open. Additionally, the GNPS district invested in electrostatic mist cleaners during the summer break and has made at least one available to each building. As regular protocol, our buildings are misted with disinfectant mist every evening to allow for a deep disinfection process. Therefore, we do not require our buildings to close for a deep clean when a new COVID case is diagnosed. Our custodial staff has been trained to take additional steps to re-disinfect in the morning if an overnight case is identified. This is another reason why our North High Schools is able to stay open, whereas other high schools are not. Can I send my child to school while they wait for results back from a COVID test? No. Any school age children waiting for COVID test results must stay at home until a diagnosis is known. |
Should I take a rapid COVID test?
Rapid COVID tests have been plagued by false positives. Once you get a positive, even if it is false, you will need to follow isolation protocols, even if a later PCR (the test requiring more time, with greater accuracy) shows that you are negative. It might be beneficial to take the more accurate test, even though it may take more time to get results back. Talk to your medical provider about the pros and cons of each test to determine which test is appropriate for your family. What should I do if I know that someone has broken COVID protocols and is not quarantining/isolating? It is your choice what you ultimately do with this information. Should you choose to follow public health recommendations and inform the school, it is suggested you privately reach out to the building administration. Since the start of the school year, there have been instances where this has happened, and the district, with the assistance of the DOH, has safely/privately handled the situation while maintaining anonymity. Can I switch my in person child to remote right now and then move back to hybrid? No. Once you have made the shift to remote learning you may not switch back to hybrid/in person learning. The hybrid schedule has a set number of seats available per class and a set number of students allowed in the building on a daily basis to maintain safety protocols. Having a variable number of students coming into the building and classrooms does not allow for proper safety planning. The December 1st date to choose in-person instruction starting February is only extended to those families who have been on remote instruction from September. You are free to move to 100% remote from hybrid but understand there will not be an opportunity to switch back. If my child is at home for more than a day, can they go to school virtually? Should your child have to remain at home for any reason (example: needs to quarantine, waiting for a negative COVID test), please speak with attendance to discuss your child’s situation. Please note, if your child attends class virtually during a day that they are supposed to be in person, your child will be marked absent from the building (requirement for NYS attendance and safety reasons) but will get credit for classes they attend virtually. Can I send my other child(ren) to school if one is home waiting for COVID test results? No, you should not. Please reach out to the administration and/or the nurse’s office and let them know that you are waiting for the results of a COVID test for another child in your family. As a precaution, all children in your family should be tested and cleared before returning to school should ANY household member require a COVID test. |
Will our school close if the rate of infection continues to rise?
Let’s hope we don’t close. We believe that high infection rates in the community will ultimately have a detrimental effect on the schools. The high infection rate of positivity in the Great Neck community was flagged by New York State and at one point the closing of our school was contemplated. Currently, the infection rate is NOT spreading within the school buildings. We are fortunate to say that since school reopened in September, North High has had 12 reported cases out of 1000 students attending school in person (as of November 19th). The spread in the school is far lower than the community, city or state. It is for this reason that the Nassau DOH advocated for GNPS to stay open as we have demonstrated that the spread is not occurring within our buildings. The Governor is now also shifting towards allowing schools to stay open if the rate of positivity within the schools is low. However, given the increase in local infection rates, should the current upward trend not change, the community spread may cause us to be flagged as a microcluster where even our school will need to go 100% remote. The Great Neck positivity rate is being monitored closely at the state and county levels. If there is a household where an adult is positive, does the district find out? Yes. The DOH notifies the school district if there are any school age children present in a household that has a COVID positive case. It is public health protocol that if a student has been in close contact with an individual with positive COVID case or within the same household that they get tested and should not return to in person classes until cleared by a physician. When should I keep my child home from school? Please keep your child home when they feel ill. If they exhibit COVID like symptoms - fever, chills, loss of taste/smell etc. - please notify the school and follow appropriate protocols. Your child must be cleared to return to school by a physician - attesting that your child is COVID negative. You should also keep your child home if they are awaiting results of a COVID test. Once they are cleared as being COVID negative, they may resume in person classes. Please speak to attendance or the school nurse should you have any questions about this protocol. For additional Q&As please download the pdf at the top of this page |