Ossining Schools To Operate Remotely Monday

OSSINING, NY — Ossining schools will reopen Monday after the holiday break, but students will not be returning to classrooms just yet.

"At this time, we have made the decision to shift to full remote instruction tomorrow for ALL STUDENTS on Monday, January 3, 2022," Superintendent Ray Sanchez wrote to families Sunday afternoon. "While our goal has been to keep schools open for in person-learning, we have continued to monitor the current status of the COVID-19 cases in the county as well as our staffing levels to ensure we can open our schools safely. Due to the increase in the number of cases, we decided that shifting to remote instruction tomorrow will allow us to plan for and proactively distribute testing kits to staff and families prior to returning to in-person instruction."

There are more than 27,000 active coronavirus cases reported in Westchester County, 921 of them in Ossining. New positives reported countywide Jan. 1: 3,307.

School officials anticipate returning to in-person learning on Tuesday.

Testing Options for Staff

Sunday, in partnership with OVAC, many Ossining School District staff were tested. We are also distributing at-home Kits to interested staff today and tomorrow, Sanchez said. Additionally, on Tuesday, we will provide our Mirimus testing kits to staff members who have previously consented to participate.

Testing Options for Families

District officials have secured two options for testing for families:

Option 1: Rapid Tests for Students ONLY

The Ossining School District has been working diligently to secure take-home tests in partnership with the New York State Department of Health. While this is voluntary, we encourage families to test their children prior to returning for in-person learning.

Take-home test kits will be available from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at each school and from 5 - 7 p.m. at OHS. If you are interested in picking up an At-Home COVID-19 Test, please fill out this form for each child that attends school. WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, we will make sure that we have a test kit set aside for each child who is registered. Only one test kit per student will be provided and is intended only for student use ONLY. If your children attend different buildings, you can pick up tests at one school. THE FORM MUST BE COMPLETED BY 9 AM ON MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 2022.

Option 2: Mirimus Testing

On Tuesday, Mirimus saliva COVID tests will be available to children for whom we have previous consent. Tests will need to be returned by 10 a.m. Wednesday and results for positive individuals only will be given on Thursday.