Reopening Our School
The Otselic Valley Central School District uses guidance from the New York State Education Department, New York State Department of Health, DCMO BOCES, and both the Chenango and Madison County Departments of Health to establish reopening policies and protocols.
Reopening Plan and FAQs
Otselic Valley Central School Reopening Plan
Frequently Asked Questions about Reopening for Parents/Guardians
COVID-19 Information Pages
Otselic Valley plan for COVID-19 testing (August 10, 2020)
If and when a student presents signs or symptoms of COVID-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html), the individual should be sent home. The parent or guardian of the student should consult with their child’s doctor if they should be tested for COVID-19. Staff members who report any symptoms of COVID-19 should contact their primary care primary and discuss whether or not testing is appropriate. If a family does not have a doctor or the doctor is unavailable, individuals should call the Upstate University Hospital’s COVID-19 Triage Line at 315-464-3979. For a list of testing sites in the Central New York area, please check out https://www.madisoncounty.ny.gov/2589/Diagnostic-Testing-Sites-for-COVID-19 .
Please note that when an individual with symptoms is tested for COVID-19, they are asked to quarantine by their healthcare provider until they receive their test result. If the test comes back negative, they are notified by their healthcare provider and no longer need to quarantine and may return to school after symptoms have resolved unless the individual was placed into quarantine due to an exposure to a positive case. In this instance, the individual will complete the full quarantine period regardless of a negative test result. If the test comes back positive, they are notified by their healthcare provider and their County Health Department (Chenango or Madison) will contact them for a case investigation. The individual will be issued an order for isolation for a minimum of 10 days from symptom onset. The Health Department will conduct daily follow up and release individual from isolation when appropriate.
Otselic Valley plan for contact tracing (August 10, 2020)
The County Health Departments (Chenango, Madison) will be responsible for all contact tracing as they would any positive case of COVID-19 in their respective counties. They will work closely with the school district and family to identify all close contacts (those who came within 6 feet of the positive case for at least 10 minutes). Those individuals will be notified and issued quarantine orders. They will receive daily follow up from County staff to monitor symptoms and ensure compliance. The County Health Department swill provide the school district with guidance related to cleaning and disinfecting as well as additional testing of students or staff. School buildings of the positive case should be shut down for at least 24 hours for cleaning and disinfecting, and so that contact tracing can be done.