Kings Park Central School District

Pursuant to the Interim Guidance on Mandatory COVID-19 Testing in Public and Non-Public Schools Located in Areas Designated as “Yellow Zones” Under the New York State Cluster Action Initiative, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has determined that schools open to in-person instruction in yellow zones are required to test 20% of in-person students, teachers and staff.

Geographic areas are designated as yellow precautionary zones due to increased viral spread, as demonstrated by increased new cases, positivity, hospital admissions, and other factors, or as yellow buffer zones that are adjacent to red or orange zones.

Effective the week of November 16, 2020, schools in yellow zones must test 20% of in-person students, faculty and staff over the two-week period immediately following the announcement of a yellow zone designation. If the results of the testing reveal that the positivity rate among the 20% of those tested is lower than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, testing at that school will no longer be required to continue. A positivity rate in a school that is lower than in the yellow zone is a sufficient demonstration that in-person instruction is not a significant driver of local viral spread. The current positivity rate for zones can be found at, https://forward.ny.gov/percentage-positive-results-county-dashboard.

However, if the results of the testing over the first two weeks reveal that the positivity rate among in-person student, staff and faculty is higher than the Yellow Zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, the school will be required to continue to test 20% of the in-person population on a bi-weekly basis.

Below are resources for parents, guardians, and employees.