COVID-19 Sends Local School District Back to Remote

COVID-19 exposures from the past weekend have forced a local school district to switch to fully remote learning on Tuesday, according to the district website.

Whitesboro Central School District is going fully remote, K-12, on Tuesday, to allow the health department time to conduct contact tracing. Currently, the school's plan is to run classes remotely on Tuesday only, with in-person learning to resume on Wednesday, pending guidance from the Oneida County Health Department.

"We were informed of extensive community exposures to COVID-19 over the weekend impacting our District.  As a result, we will be operating on a fully remote basis tomorrow, Tuesday, April 20, to allow sufficient time for contact tracing and consultation with the Oneida County Health Department," according to the district website.

The district said that no students should report to the school for in-person learning. Students who attend half-day programs at BOCES will be fully remote for the entire day, including BOCES.  Students who attend full-day out-of-district programs will attend their programs as they normally would, according to the district. Additionally, New York State testing for grades 3 through 8 which was supposed to begin on Tuesday, has been moved to a starting date of Wednesday, April 21.

Students or staff who will need to quarantine or self monitor will be contacted directly, and should be prepared to receive a voicemail or email from the district. School officials say that any child placed in a quarantine protocol will not be allowed to report to school until the return date given to them by the school or the Oneida County Health Department.

"Information regarding extracurricular activities including athletic practices and contests will be communicated separately as soon as determinations are made," according to the district website. Students and families should continue to check the district website for more information.