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COVID UPDATE
Dear Parents/Guardians: We have recently received new guidance and information from the New York State Health Department. Below is a summary of the latest information: The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has indicated that they will no longer be contact tracing potential COVID exposures for individuals. New York State has also given local health departments the ability to reduce contact tracing efforts. Ontario County Public Health (OCPH) provided feedback that students who have been quarantined due to an exposure on the bus or during breakfast/lunch have rarely contracted COVID from that exposure. Taking these factors into consideration, public health is moving forward in partnership with schools to continue to do cluster contact tracing when there appears to be multiple cases proportionate to a cohort in a particular setting . In short: Rather than individual contact tracing, the District will now be working with Ontario County Public Health in the event that Public Health determines that there is a potential cluster of positive cases. Should Public Health determine a “cluster of cases” may have developed a collaborative investigation involving the District and Public Health will occur. Please Note: Quarantine protocols are still required if there is a positive case in the home and the student/staff member is unvaccinated. Since contact tracing is no longer required for individual COVID cases, families of children who are exposed to a single positive case will not receive a phone call from the school, state or county. Families should communicate directly with their school nurse if they have questions about their child’s potential exposure. As shared in a recent communication, if your student (or you as a staff member), tests positive for COVID, please notify your school nurse and fill out the county attestation form below. If you or your child is placed in isolation or quarantine, you will need to go onto the Ontario County Public Health website and fill out a verification form to be entered into their system to obtain a release. If you have been placed in isolation, follow this link to attest to your isolation status: Five Day - https://hipaa.jotform.com/220065955234151 Ten Day - https://hipaa.jotform.com/220096951938162 If you have been placed in quarantine, follow this link to attest to your quarantine status: Five Day- https://hipaa.jotform.com/220065841998162 Ten Day - https://hipaa.jotform.com/220096739093158 For more information on the changes in guidance, Contact Tracing FAQ’s for Schools and other resources please visit the following NYS website: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/new-york-state-contact-tracing Thank you for reading, please take care, and as always, let us know if you need anything. Thank you. Andy Doell
Wednesday, Jan 19 2022
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Automatic attendance notices starting January 4
Hello Parents - One of the features in ParentSquare that we're very excited about is automatic absence notification. This is going live Tuesday, January 4. If your child is absent for an unknown reason in the morning you will get a message via parentsquare. As with any new system involving different data sets, there are bound to be some mistakes, please be patient as we work through these. The nurse's offices in both buildings are busy places and automated notifications will help our nurses out tremendously. The Elementary Nurse has an excuse form you can use to let her know about a student's absence before school starts. It can also be found on the Elementary School website - right-hand side and in ParentSquare under links. Elementary Excuse Form Student absences in grades 6-12 should be emailed to mshsattendance@bloomfieldcsd.org Thank you!
Monday, Jan 03 2022
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COVID UPDATE
Bloomfield School Community: I hope that you all have enjoyed a restful and joy filled Holiday Season. I wanted to take a few moments to provide an update regarding our return from school after the Holiday Break. Some of you may have seen that the governor has announced that she will be sending test kits to school districts. We have been informed that the test kits will be sent to our local BOCES for distribution to individual school districts. Earlier this afternoon I was made aware that the test kits had just arrived at BOCES and I am working to arrange for their pick up sometime tomorrow. As you may have seen, the governor is strongly opposed to school closures and has sent the test kits to schools in an effort to keep schools open for in-person learning. The governor has indicated that schools can use the kits being sent in a number of ways from sending them home in backpacks to using them to support their local test to stay process. At this point our plan is to use the test kits to support our test to stay process. These kits will allow us to continue to test students, faculty and staff who have been required to quarantine as the result of an exposure in an effort to keep students in school and in an effort to keep school open. As we return, it is important to remember that, while remaining open for in person learning is our goal, our ability to remain open will be dictated by a number of factors outside of our control. Some of those factors include: potential driver shortages, potential staff shortages, potential teacher shortages and a potential spike in COVID cases within the District or Community that raises a concern at the County level. While a move to a remote learning model is a last resort, and while I have no plans at this time to close for in person learning and move to a remote model, we must be aware of and prepared for that possibility over the next several weeks. To help us ensure we are able to remain open I would ask that anyone who is not feeling well stay home. Staying home when you are not feeling well is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and helps prevent the need to quarantine others. If students, faculty and staff are at home when ill/symptomatic, it allows others to remain in school safely. Both the CDC and the Ontario County Public Health Department have also noted that proper masking while at school also helps minimize the number of individuals that may need to quarantine as the result of exposure. It is our hope that we are able to keep students out of any situations in which they are required to quarantine so that we can keep our students at school and participating in clubs, athletics and other school activities. Our success in remaining open for in-person learning and our ability to keep clubs and athletic teams out of quarantine is dependent on everyone working together. At this point in time, we have been made aware of several students that have tested positive for COVID-19 over the break. The latest figures from the county note that we have 8 individuals who are isolated as the result of COVID-19 in the District. As I have done for the past several months, I will be meeting with Ontario County representatives as well as with Ontario County School Superintendents tomorrow for our weekly Monday morning meeting. If I am made aware of any new updates tomorrow morning I will share those with you. Thank you for reading, please take care, and as always, let us know if you need anything. Andy Doell
Sunday, Jan 02 2022
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Bloomfield CSD Partnership
The Bloomfield Central School District is proud to announce we have partnered with Finger Lakes Community College to offer an opportunity to earn your Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification in 16 weeks right here in Bloomfield. This opportunity is available to anyone who is interested in manufacturing or who may be seeking a promotion in the field. If you are interested, or if you know of anyone who may be interested, information session are available. Information sessions are planned for December 9 and 21 from 4:30 to 5:30 PM in the Bloomfield Central School District Operations Center located at 1 Oakmount Avenue in Bloomfield. Details can be found at www.flcc.edu/cpt/ . If you have questions or would like more information please email workforce@flcc.edu or call (585)785-1670. Thank you. Andy Doell
Thursday, Dec 09 2021
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School Testing and Quarantines Update
Dear Parents/Guardians: As you know, the Bloomfield Central School District has been working cooperatively with Ontario County in an effort to comply with regulations set forth by the New York State Health Department. Currently the District is complying with the weekly testing requirement of unvaccinated employees and is in compliance with the use of diagnostic testing for students that become symptomatic while at school. In addition, the District has been able to test students who are exposed while at school and are required to quarantine as a result of that exposure. The ability to offer “testing to stay” has allowed us to continue to keep students in school through their quarantine. I am emailing to make you aware of additional information from the County in the attached revised version of the “Testing Exposed Children for COVID-19 at School” memo. The revision denotes that, while a negative COVID test allows a student to participate in school, students who are quarantined are unfortunately not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities such as clubs, concerts and athletics. The attached memo denotes the process we must follow and includes frequently asked questions. Please know that we will continue to do our best to work with you and will do our best to answer any questions that you may have. I want to take a moment to thank our school nurses for their efforts throughout the year. The additional testing has been difficult on our nurses and their patience and commitment to keeping as many students in school as we can has been appreciated. I also want to take a moment to thank our parents for your continued support and cooperation this year. Your willingness to keep your student home when they are ill, your conversations with your student about the importance of proper masking and your patience with the changes that we are required to adhere to are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading, please take care, and as always, let us know if you need anything. Thank you. Andy Doell
Monday, Dec 06 2021