Glens Falls City Schools > Archive > COVID-19 Reopening Plan: Contact Tracing
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COVID-19 Reopening Plan: Contact Tracing

Disease Containment Efforts

The district is in direct and continuing communication with leaders at the Warren County Department of Health and Glens Falls Hospital to ensure the best possible COVID-19 containment actions are in effect at our schools. The district’s containment team members are Superintendent Paul Jenkins, Assistant Superintendent for Business Bobby Yusko, Director of Personnel Development Lisa Palmer, Director of Facilities and Transportation Ken Chester, District Nurse Department Chair Kathy Callaghan, and the building Principal and School Nurse, as necessary.

Staff and students should not come to school, and should notify school officials (building principals or supervisor and the superintendent) if they (staff) or their child (families) become sick with COVID-19 symptoms, test positive for COVID-19, or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 symptoms or a confirmed or suspected case. 

Contact Tracing

The district will ensure compliance with New York State/Warren County DOH Contact Tracing Protocols. The district will notify the state and local health department immediately upon being informed of any positive COVID-19 diagnostic test result by an individual within school facilities or on school grounds, including students, faculty, staff, and visitors of the district.

Every school nurse within Glens Falls City Schools has taken the contact tracing course from Johns Hopkins University.

To assist the local health department with tracing the transmission of COVID-19, the district has developed and maintained a plan to trace all contacts of exposed individuals in accordance with protocols, training, and tools provided through the New York State Contact Tracing Program.

Glens Falls City Schools will  assist with contact tracing by:

  1. Keeping accurate attendance records of students and staff members
  2. Ensuring student schedules are up to date
  3. Keeping a log of any visitor which includes date and time, and where in the school they visited
  4. Assisting the local health departments in tracing all contacts of the individual in accordance with the protocol, training, and tools provided through the NYS Contact Tracing Program

Confidentiality shall be maintained as required by federal and state laws and regulations. School staff will not try to determine who is to be excluded from school based on contact without guidance and direction from the local health department.

In the event that a large-scale testing for COVID-19 will need to be conducted at the school, the district administration will work with the Warren Department of Health to do so.

How will parents, staff and students be asked to participate in contact tracing?

If necessary, a parent, student, or staff member may be asked to provide details on who they have had contact with, in the event of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis or test result. The individual will be asked to provide that information using this form from the NYSDOH, or something similar:

Protocols for a confirmed COVID-19 case involving a student or staff member

  • When a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, the individual (or parent) notifies the school nurse and she will confirm the positive case with Warren County DOH.
  • Warren County DOH determines length of isolation for an individual confirmed to have COVID-19. 
  • In accordance with state and local laws and regulations, school administrators will notify the appropriate local health officials, staff, and families immediately of any case of COVID-19 while maintaining confidentiality in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
  • School nurses will start the process of tracing by determining contacts within the building, the bus, and possibly other buildings if there are siblings, and share information with Warren County DOH.
    • Warren County DOH will instruct the district on any possible closure and its duration.
    • An entire school may not be closed because of one confirmed case. 
    • Warren County DOH will notify potential contacts, with possible assistance from district nurses. 
  • Any staff or student that meets the close contact criteria will be contacted with further instructions specific to the individual situation. Close contact is defined as being <6 feet for ≥15 minutes. Confidentiality will be maintained in all exposure communications.
  • Based on the number of students and staff that meet the close contact criteria, a determination will be made by the superintendent about remote learning for one class, some classes, or the entire school.