A Safety Message from Rye Schools Superintendent

 

The District was informed the evening of October 6 that an individual at Rye High School has tested positive for Covid-19. The individual is currently in isolation and has not been on campus since October 2. Due to federal health privacy laws, additional information about the individual cannot be released.

We have been working closely with the Westchester County Department of Health and, as always, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. The New York State Department of Health is conducting contact tracing for this case using contact information provided by the District. Students, faculty, and staff members who are determined to have had direct exposure to the individual will be contacted by a New York State Department of Health Contact Tracer. For such calls, the caller ID may read “NYS Contact Tracing” or display a phone number with a 518 area code. Please answer these calls promptly. Your identity and the information you provide will remain confidential. We ask that you please provide Contact Tracers with the information they need to support the health and safety of everyone in the Rye City School District community.

If you do not receive a call, this means that based on the guidance received from the Department of Health, your student or you as a faculty or staff member did not meet their criteria.

For more information about the WCDOH protocols for handling Covid-19 issues, please see their FAQ (HERE) and the recent NYSDOH guidance for Covid-19 decision making (COVID-19 Toolkit).

As you know, all students are remote on Wednesday. Out of an abundance of caution, all Rye High School faculty and staff will work remotely from their homes today. We will provide an update tomorrow afternoon with details about when classes will resume at Rye High School. All other District schools will follow the typical Wednesday schedule.

Please be assured that we will continue to do everything in our power to keep the Rye community safe.

Sincerely,

Eric Byrne, Ed.D.