Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District

COVID 19 Update: As you have seen over the past few days, CG has seen a minor uptick in cases (2). We will be keeping a very close eye on our individuals that are out with symptoms and awaiting either an alternative diagnosis or a negative COVID test. With our positive case this morning, we are at 10 positive cases since school started September 8th. If we begin to see a notable increase in cases, and we feel school is not a safe place to be, we may start discussions to go 100% remote up to the Christmas Break. This week will show us the true fallout from Thanksgiving if there is going to be one as projected. I believe through our masking, distancing, and sanitizing efforts we have done an excellent job of stopping the spread of the virus when we have had positive cases. To date, we have yet to see a positive case from any of our quarantined individuals that we designated as a school contact in the elementary school (and yes, I knocked on wood). In the high school, we suspect that there may have been one transference that occurred in school (our very first cases), but there is no way to verify that suspicion. This just goes to show that our efforts are making a difference and school is a safe place to be. Our school is healthy and our COVID plan is working. Contact Tracing: I know that this morning’s call threw everyone for a loop, including me. I apologize for the late notice and any hardships that it may has caused. The reason I had to close the elementary school is our contact tracing takes time. We must contact the positive individual and have a conversation with him/her regarding where they were and who they were around for the 3-day investigation window. We then must look at cameras and follow the employee around to make sure that we didn’t miss anything. If the employee is a teacher or aide in a classroom, the entire class will be quarantined. The county has a sheet that we must fill out with the contact’s name, telephone number, address, and if they are a student, the parents’ names. And then we begin making the phone calls to the families. The process takes on average 3-4 hours depending on how many people we have working on it and the number of contacts. If we were to have the students show up this morning and they ended up being a contact, we would have had to send them home after being here for a few hours and disrupt our families even more. It is not ideal to cancel school at 6:45 am, but it is the right thing to do for all our families and employees. With our latest 2 cases, we have 62 students and 9 adults quarantined. The teachers are quarantined with their students; therefore, they will be able to teach remotely during the quarantined time with their students. Currently, we do not feel it is necessary to close the entire school or district for 2 cases. As stated above, we will keep a very close eye on our individuals out with symptoms and if we feel it is getting to the point where it is not safe to have school open, we will go 100% remote. Quarantining keeps everyone safe from a potential spread and it has proven to work for us thus far. None of what we are dealing with COVID is ideal, but we are doing the best we can to keep our schools open and a safe place to be. Quarantining 71 individuals in less than 24 hours is not ideal and causes many hardships, and for this, I apologize. Through our investigations of the 10 positive cases, we have encountered since September, I feel (as well as the County Health Director) that Canisteo-Greenwood is as safe as it can be with this virus. If there ever comes a time where I do not feel that way, I will do what is necessary to protect our children and staff. Yours in service, Thomas J. Crook Superintendent

The contact tracing is complete for our case this morning and our affected families have been notified. If you did not hear directly from Mrs. Brownell this morning, your child has not been affected by the positive case and is safe to return. The Elementary School will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, December 8th.

For further clarification: Today's closure is for the ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ONLY. The High School is still open.

We just received word that one of our elementary teachers has tested positive for COVID 19. Due to the timing, we must close the ELEMENTARY school today, Monday, December 7th for contact tracing. We apologize for the late notice but we just received word of the results. It is ONLY THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

Good evening, this is Tom Crook, Superintendent at Canisteo-Greenwood. Sorry for the message on the weekend, but we were informed this afternoon that one of our elementary employees has tested positive for COVID 19. This individual was last in the building on Thursday, December 3rd and it will affect multiple classrooms and several employees (53 students and employees in total). Our administrative staff has begun to make the necessary phone calls to the families and employees. Due to the efforts of the administrative team this afternoon, there will NOT be a need to close the district for contact tracing. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me at tcrook@cgcsd.org or cgcovid@cgcsd.org.

Good afternoon, this is Tom Crook, Superintendent at Canisteo-Greenwood. We were informed this morning that one of our bus drivers has tested positive for COVID-19. With my initial conversation with the health department, based on when their symptoms started (Sunday) and the District not being in session Wednesday – Friday last week for Thanksgiving, there is no need for the District to close for contact tracing. One important update to pass on from the health department is that many of their cases are now showing symptoms where just a few weeks ago, many were asymptomatic. Please pay attention to any symptoms and take the necessary steps to protect yourself and others. Thankfully this employee knew they were not feeling well and did not report to work, therefore protecting our staff and students from possible infection. Please remain vigilant for our staff, students and families by following recommended COVID protocol by wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance, washing your hands and keeping your personal circles small. The current positivity rate for the county is at 7.2% which puts us at risk for being designated a yellow zone by the state. Let’s do our part to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you have any questions, please reach out to tcrook@cgcsd.org or cgcovid@cgcsd.org Thank you.

The Canisteo-Greenwood Athlete of the Month for November is Anthony Loper of the Boys Varsity Soccer team! Anthony scored half of his teams goals this past season. He recorded a hat trick in a 4-4 tie against C-S which went into OT. If you see Anthony, please congratulate him on a job well done!

The Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District will be running a non-perishable food drive with all of the items collected being donated to families within the school community. This is the season of sharing and the district has always shared generously. In addition to food we will also be collecting new mittens and new winter hats. Non-perishable items, mittens and hats will be collected on a daily basis from November 18 to December 10, 2020. Please send your donation with your child to school. Remember to check expiration dates and be wary of glass donations, we don’t want broken glass on buses or in backpacks for student safety. Thank you in advance for your generosity! CG Holiday Committee

Update: the District completed their contact tracing yesterday afternoon. If you did not hear directly from Mr. Reynolds, you are clear to return in person tomorrow. There were a total of 29 students who qualified with the County Health Department for quarantine and Mr. Reynolds reached out to all the families yesterday.

Good afternoon, this is Tom Crook, Superintendent at Canisteo-Greenwood Central School. Early this morning, we were notified that one of our high school students has tested positive for COVID-19. The student was last present on Monday, November 9th, therefore we will not need to close for contact tracing efforts. Since this is our first high school student case that involves a moving student schedule, we will be determining which classmates will need to be quarantined through the following criteria: any student that has 2 or more classes with this student will need to be quarantined (in the same space for more than an hour collectively throughout the day) and any students that may not have been in multiple classes but were within 6 feet for more than 10 minutes collectively during the day. The District will be reaching out to all affected families sometime today. Thank you.

Sorry for the extreme late notice but today's modified soccer games have been cancelled. We are participating in contact tracing efforts of a positive case that involve modified athletes.

We have set up our Verizon hotspots for our virtual learners. There are now 3 locations where you can drive to get Wi-Fi service: - Methodist Church in South Canisteo - WLEA - Greenwood School

Good afternoon. This is just a reminder that tonight's Board of Education scheduled for 6pm will be done through Zoom. Please click on the link below to enter just prior to 6pm. https://zoom.us/j/94894992622

Good afternoon, this is Tom Crook, Superintendent at Canisteo-Greenwood. Today we learned that 2 of our elementary students have tested positive for COVID 19. These 2 students were already quarantined this past week due to being in contact with a positive case last weekend. However, through the investigation with the county health department, one of the positive students was symptomatic during school on October 28th and October 29th, which will affect the classroom and a bus. Based on the current quarantining requirements; an elementary classroom, 6 bus students, and 4 staff members will be required to quarantine for most of next week. We continue to look at our procedures and how we can minimize the need for a quarantine in the event of a symptomatic individual. Since the 2 students were quarantined this week and were not in school, there will be no need for the District to close for contact tracing. We will remain open. We thank you for your patience and your continuous support of our district through these troubling times. Yours in service, Thomas J. Crook Superintendent

Since it is going to be in the 70s the next few days, I figured now would be the perfect time to discuss snow days. Although the state is offering schools a pilot program to not have snow days and declare them "virtual, the Canisteo-Greenwood School District will NOT be changing their snow day protocol. If the Superintendent calls a "snow day" for the District, it will be treated as it always has. No staff will be required to report virtually and neither will the students. So you may continue to participate in all of the snow days rituals (spoon under the pillow, pajamas inside out, etc.) in hopes that I call a snow day and you just get to chill. They will be much needed breaks in this COVID-crazy world. All the best, Thomas J. Crook Superintendent

It has come to our attention that one of our staff members has tested positive for COVID-19. Based on the onset of symptoms, we are required to trace back to Friday. This individual was in both buildings on Friday and we are reaching out to any persons that we feel may have reached the requirements for quarantining. Due to students not being in session on Fridays, there is no requirement for the District to close for contact tracing therefore, we will REMAIN OPEN. Yours in service, Thomas J. Crook Superintendent

Due to the no visitors spectator rule and other factors, the district will be sending someone over to Cohocton tomorrow night for the Girl's Varsity Soccer county tournament game against Addison (6pm). The game will be a live video to the District's FACEBOOK page and not the normal feed to the website. The video feed will be through one of our hotspots and we are hoping to provide a quality video. Our normal streaming equipment is too cumbersome to travel with but we will make an attempt to give our fans the best possible experience.

This afternoon, we were informed that one of our elementary staff members has tested positive for COVID-19. Based on the time that the employee became symptomatic (yesterday) and tracing back 48 hours (Friday), this employee did not work on Friday nor did we have students in session. After talking with the county health department, they are NOT recommending that we close tomorrow for contact tracing and we WILL REMAIN OPEN. Based on our COVID Reopening Plan, we are informing our community of the positive case. If you have any questions, please email cgcovid@cgcsd.org

Due to a Power Outage at Wildwood, BOCES Classes at Wildwood are cancelled for the day. October 23, 2020. New Visions Students may still attend at Hornell HS but must provide their own transportation.

Good afternoon. Earlier today, the Governor placed parts of Steuben County in a "yellow zone" due to the rate of positive cases. I just wanted to clarify that the Canisteo-Greenwood Central School District is NOT part of the yellow zone at this time. The zone starts around the Campbell-Savona District and spans east to Chemung County. The zone will impact some of our students that attend classes in the "yellow zone" and will most likely change our athletic schedule if we were scheduled to play any schools in the "yellow zone". I know many of you are probably asking what CG would do if we were ever placed into a "yellow zone"? Based on a conversation with county health department yesterday, we would most likely have to go 100% remote for the period of time needed to decrease the positivity rate of the "yellow zone". The county health department has stated that they would not have the capability to perform the COVID tests required to stay open (20% of all students and staff). As always, if you have any questions regarding COVID please email cgcovid@cgcsd.org Yours in service, Thomas J. Crook Superintendent