Due to the increase in positive COVID cases, the Governor has declared most of Erie County a “yellow zone”, which places restrictions on houses of worship, mass gatherings, businesses, dining, and schools. Schools that are geographically within a yellow zone need to test 20% of students and teachers/staff for in-person settings each week, if they desire to continue in-person instruction.

The District is pursuing information on the possibility of conducting testing. Over the course of this week we will meet with representatives of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and we will gather as many facts as we can on yellow zone testing. Our focus is on maintaining in-person schooling if possible.

The purpose of this survey is to gather data from parents regarding potential consent for COVID testing.

We know that the tests will be provided by the NYSDOH and the actual testing instrument is an Abbot BinexNOW short nasal swab rapid test. We don't know anything else at this point in terms of where this testing would take place or who will be administering the testing. We anticipate learning more about these details throughout this week.

The survey is anonymous. Our goal is to get a rough estimate of how many parents would provide permission to test their children and to use that data to help make a decision moving forward.

We will continue to provide informational updates to parents as we work through the decision making process. Please submit the survey by the end of the day on Wednesday, November 11, 2020.

Thank you for your cooperation.