Governor Kathy Hochul announced a statewide goal of providing students the opportunity to be tested for COVID-19 as school resumes after holiday break. There is no requirement that families test their children, but the Governor is encouraging the testing of students in order to keep students and school communities as safe as possible. The Governor stated that they will be sending test kits for distribution to our schools and local BOCES.

 

The test kits were delivered to MO BOCES on January 1st by New York state, and BOCES delivered them to Oneida City School District today.

 

The Oneida City School District plans to distribute the kits beginning Tuesday, January 4, in the following manner: Any OCSD parent may pick up 1 test kit per registered student (each kit contains 2 tests) at the main office of their child’s school; parents should contact their child’s school if they would prefer a test be sent home with their child.

 

Because we have a limited supply of test kits, the availability of a kit is on a first-come-first-served basis.

 

Please note the district is simply a conduit for distribution. We will not be tracking or reporting results. We ask that families who utilize the kits and have a child with a positive test result report the positive case to the local health department and work with the district to follow all isolation and quarantine requirements. Parents and guardians should use the following link to submit at-home test results:

 

Madison County:             https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2825/Form-to-Report-a-Positive-Test-Result

 

 

Oneida County:                 https://lfweb.ocgov.net/Forms/COVIDTestResults

 

 

To clear up any possible confusion, this opportunity to receive free test kits is not related to Test to Stay (TTS) programs in which some districts are choosing to participate. Information on TTS will be forthcoming, as applicable.

 

As a reminder, families should keep their children at home if they are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms. These test kits will not be effective if families do not continue to follow the daily screening for COVID-like symptoms.  If your child takes one of the home test kits and the results are negative but your child continues to have symptoms they should remain at home and consult with a medical professional.

 

Thank you for your continued support as we navigate the complications created by this pandemic.