COVID Q&As

We continue to remain open for in-person instruction, five days a week. It is our goal to safely maintain this consistency of instruction as we navigate quarantines as well as positive cases. We are working closely with the Ontario County Department of Health who is directing our quarantining and health related procedures.

Strong evidence that the vaccine works

• Vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe disease; breakthrough infections and disease among vaccinated individuals remain uncommon; and most of the new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are among unvaccinated people.     https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/new-data-on-covid-19-transmission-by-vaccinated-individuals.html
• .005% of vaccinated individuals who test positive end up hospitalized.    https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-departments/breakthrough-cases.html

We are strongly supporting the OCHD & CDC recommendation that individuals age 12 and up get the vaccine.

We are waiting for guidance from NY State regarding vaccination policy for staff. 

NY State Governor Hochul recently mandated that universal masking occur all of the time when indoors. We will continue to have mask breaks and allow for masks to be off when outdoors, or when eating lunch/breakfast. This was our policy before the Governor made her decision. We are hopeful that as our area decreases in COVID transmission we will receive guidance on our ability to become less restrictive with mask wearing.

The Ontario County Health Department decides on quarantining protocols. Currently, they are not quarantining individuals who are vaccinated if they were exposed to a positive case and do not have symptoms. Individuals who are unvaccinated are being quarantined by the health department if they are close to a person who is infected for a longer period of time. Mask wearing decreases the likelihood of quarantine but does not eliminate it. Again, Ontario County Health determines who is quarantined based on the individual situation. 

Q&A on Testing Procedures

We will use the CDC transmission level designation

• Low and Moderate - No distancing requirements
• Substantial and High - 3’ distancing requirement where practicable.

These requirements include music and PE, which means we will have PE and music classes at 3 feet social distance as much as practically possible. 
 

Buses 

• Passengers and drivers must wear a mask on school buses, including on buses operated by public and private school systems, subject to the exclusions and exemptions in CDC’s Order.
• No distancing requirements

Cafeteria
Maximize physical distance to the extent practicable when moving through the food service line and while eating (especially indoors). We will have students eating in cafeterias with 3 feet or less distance in between. We do not have the room, especially at the secondary level, to have greater distance. 

• A daily screener will no longer be necessary, rather, reminders to students and staff that they must stay home if they are exhibiting symptoms and call the school and their pediatrician for next steps. 
• A screener may be used if the Ontario County Health Department recommends using it. As of the writing of this Q & A document, they are not mandating a screener. 

If a student is on quarantine, they will have access to Google Classroom and updated materials to support learning. They will also have access to their teacher. Our goal is to minimize the extent any student falls behind in their work when quarantined.

When an entire classroom shifts to remote learning due to a positive COVID case, you can expect some synchronous and asynchronous virtual activities. Often, some students return from quarantine earlier than others (due to anomalies such as absences on the day of exposure, etc). Please understand that the teacher may have in-person learners and virtual students at the same time. For this reason, synchronous (“live”) virtual opportunities may be more limited when some students are out and some are returning from quarantine.

We hope that none of our buildings need to go to a 100% remote model, but we are planning for this situation in case we need to. Virtual instruction would look different than our current model for quarantines. Teachers would have a singular focus on remote instruction (versus balancing in-person students), allowing more opportunities for synchronous instruction.

No. VCS will not have this option unless there is a documented medical reason that a child cannot attend in-person. If you have a child with a documented medical reason then you would fill out appropriate paperwork, which can be found at your child’s building. The VCS School Physician would make the final decision after reviewing the information from the child’s doctor. 

Below is a list of facts, operational procedures and enhancements that VCS implemented back in August of 2020. These prior enhancements meet the criteria outlined in the newest guidance document. VCS has been meeting the newest Department of Health criteria since school opened in September of 2020.

Ventilation and Filtration

• All student/staff occupied spaces are provided with code required mechanical ventilation.
• Ventilation rates have been increased where possible. Additional ventilation will naturally occur as the systems try to utilize springtime “free cooling”. Several classroom systems are 100% outside air units with no recirculation air.
• All mechanical ventilation units have been scheduled to operate two hours prior to school opening.
• Systems are serviced and maintained to ensure proper operation.
• All ventilation unit filters have been upgraded to the highest efficiency MERV filter possible for the system they serve.
• Toilet room exhaust systems are scheduled to operate on a 24/7 basis where possible.
• Each nurse’s office has established a COVID isolation room.
• All nurse’s offices are served by their own independent mechanical ventilation unit. This method eliminates the possibility of air mixing the nurse's office air with building ventilation air.
• All exhaust air goes directly outside.

Unfortunately, bus changes will not be able to be accommodated unless it’s an emergency. 

Yes

We will allow a small number of visitors during the school day if approved by the teacher/principal. These individuals will need to complete a daily health screen and possibly have a temperature check. We are moving forward with in-person open houses as well as student and parent orientations. 

The best source of information on our reopening is on the individual building websites at victorschools.org.
VCS Building Covid Pages You can also call or email your child’s principal or the Superintendent.