As with any infectious illness, students or staff who feel ill or have been diagnosed with a contagious disease should not be at school or work. Please keep your student home and/or contact your student’s health care provider if they display:

• Fever or chills

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fatigue

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• New loss of taste or smell

• Sore throat

• Congestion or runny nose

• Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19, or who show symptoms, are asked to stay home from school or will be sent home from school, following the Centers for Disease Control’s Isolation Guidance.  

• Someone who tested positive and has no symptoms may return to school after day 5. 

• Someone who is sick (has symptoms) and has tested positive may return to school after day 5 if they have been fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication) and symptoms are improving.

Example: 

• Day 0 - Symptoms begin or if asymptomatic, date positive COVID test was administered 

• Day 1 - Stay at home 

• Day 2 - Stay at home 

• Day 3 - Stay at home 

• Day 4 - Stay at home 

• Day 5 - Stay at home 

• Day 6 - Return to school, fever-free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication; and symptoms are improving.

The CDC recommends that individuals who have tested positive or been exposed to a positive case should wear a mask through day 10. 

Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 or show symptoms of COVID-19 are not required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test to return to school.

• Testing is recommended for people with symptoms of COVID-19 as soon as possible after symptoms begin.

   

• RCS will provide COVID-19 tests to students or staff upon request. 

• Students who test positive for COVID-19 should contact the school health office and isolate themselves for five days at home.

• Staff who test positive for COVID-19 should contact their supervisor and isolate themselves for five days at home. Staff who are interested in accessing NYS COVID leave time must submit the results from a PCR (lab) COVID-19 test.

• If you go to a test site run by New York State, you will not be charged for your test. You can find testing sites on the NYSDOH website.

• We will no longer be screening testing individuals for COVID-19. However, if there is a school or regional outbreak of COVID-19, the school may be required by the Department of Health to revise this plan. Families and staff will be notified if this occurs.

• Students and staff who are sick, but do not test positive for COVID-19, may return to school/work when they are well.  

• Students who test positive for COVID-19 should contact the School Health Office immediately and School Health Office staff will help to determine when to return to school. Generally, this is a minimum of five days after the onset of symptoms and/or the positive COVID-19 test. In addition, the individual must be fever-free without fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, and their symptoms have subsided or are improving.

• Staff who test positive for COVID-19 should contact their supervisor and isolate themselves for five days at home. In addition, the individual must be fever-free without fever-reducing medicine for 24 hours, and their symptoms have subsided or are improving. 

• Individuals returning to school after completing five days of isolation should wear a mask in school and indoor public spaces on Days 6-10, per CDC recommendations. 

• A negative COVID test is not required to return to school.

• Quarantine (staying home) is not required for those who are exposed to someone with COVID-19. 

• The CDC recommends that those who are exposed wear a well-fitting mask for 10 days in public indoor settings (including schools), and get tested on or after day 5, or sooner if symptoms develop (see above for list of symptoms) You can still develop COVID-19 up to 10 days after you have been exposed. If you develop symptoms, isolate and test. 

• RCS CSD will continue to follow the recommendations of the Albany County Department of Health on managing COVID-19 exposures.

• Contact tracing is no longer required for individuals who are exposed to an individual who has COVID-19.

At this time, universal masking in school settings, including on district transportation, is not required. Any student or staff member may wear a mask while at school to prevent the spread of illness. The district, in accordance with CDC and NYSDOH guidelines, recommends students and staff wear masks when:

• They have tested positive, but have returned to school after day 5; the CDC recommends masks be worn through day 10.

• They are known to have been exposed to COVID-19 in any setting within the previous 10 days, regardless of vaccination status or history of prior COVID-19 infection.

• COVID-19 community levels are high.

• They come to school with symptoms or develop symptoms while at school, and are still in a school building.

• They feel more comfortable wearing a mask for personal reasons.

• They are moderately-to-severely immunocompromised and have discussed the need to mask with their healthcare provider(s).

Masked and unmasked people will be working and learning alongside each other, and the RCS Central School District promotes “mask-positive” environments. The goal of such environments is that those who wear masks, whether by choice, expectation, or requirement, are not stigmatized, bullied, or made to feel uncomfortable. Likewise, those for whom masks have not been required or recommended are not stigmatized, bullied, or made to feel uncomfortable. Pursuant to the Dignity For All Students Act, students have the right to a school environment free from harassment and bullying.

Each school building will work directly with each family whose student cannot attend school due to illness. This may include but is not limited to, tutoring sessions, make-up work, and virtual check-ins. 

Please contact the main office to get more information.

• COVID-19 vaccinations are not required to attend school. Children ages 6 months and older are all eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Children older than 5 are eligible for a booster. For more information, visit ny.gov/vaxtoschool. 

• If a student receives a COVID-19 vaccination, we encourage that a copy of their vaccine (shot) record be shared with the school nurse so that their school health record can be updated.

Routine cleaning in our school buildings continues to be an important strategy for reducing the spread of illness. High-risk areas such as health offices, classrooms, lunchrooms, athletic rooms, bathrooms, and high-traffic areas, as well as high-touch surfaces such as lunch tables, desks, chairs, light switches, and handrails, are cleaned daily.