21-22 Reopening Guidance
7-28-2021

On July 7, 2021 at 4:00 pm we held a Community Forum regarding the ReOpening Plan on Google Meet.

We will be amending the Reopening Plan to align with NYSED and NYDOH guidelines.

The information from the state is subject to change.

There is new guidance from the State of New York to reopen schools. We have begun to review the content with our safety advisors to determine the best course of action and timeline for returning all students to the regular classroom setting as soon as it is safe to do so. 

As a result of the new guidance, one change is immediate: All students, staff,  and visitors will be required to wear masks at all times (except when eating) while in the building. This will begin on Monday, April 12th. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. More information will be out this week. 

NYSED Updated Guidance Document

To: The Granville School Community
From: Tom McGurl
Subject: School Mask Requirements Update
Date: 6/7/21

Earlier today, Governor Cuomo held a press conference and stated that New York State would continue to require individuals to wear masks inside of school buildings.  However, when outside, individuals will not be required to wear masks.  

Please note, at this time, the official guidance has not been released and school districts are unable to make any changes to our daily operational plans until the Executive Order is provided in writing.  Once issued, it is our intent that if the mask requirement is lifted for outdoor activities, the Granville Central School District will follow that protocol. 

As I noted, NYS will not be changing the indoor mask requirement and we are required to enforce this mandate.  All students and staff will continue to be required to wear a mask inside the school building.  However, given that we have transitioned into June and the days are getting warmer, if a student or staff member is having trouble with the heat and needs an extended drink or snack break to cool down; this is acceptable, so long as there is six feet of separation between individuals. Pending the Executive Order and weather permitting, teachers will be encouraged to hold classes outside where masks will not be required.

Once the official guidance document is provided, I will make sure to communicate any potential changes.

I fully appreciate how confusing the past few days have been and the difficulty in comprehending the different messages coming out of Albany.   Please be assured that we are working tirelessly to advocate for our students and will continue to do so.

As always, I continue to appreciate your support and patience as we work through this challenging time together.

To: The Granville School Community
From: Tom McGurl
Subject: School Mask Requirements
Date: 6/6/21

As has been reported by news outlets, on Friday afternoon, Dr. Howard Zucker, New York State Commissioner of Health issued a letter (click here to read) to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regarding differing mask policies for summer camps and schools. The letter initially stated that without CDC guidance to the contrary, the changes would take effect on Monday.

We have been informed today by the New York State Department of Education that the letter has not changed any existing arrangements. “Therefore, schools should continue to operate under their existing procedures until further notice.” This adjustment from their prior stance is to allow the CDC sufficient time to respond to Dr. Zucker’s letter. Current mask policies include requirements for mask use on school buses, in classrooms, in school hallways and on playgrounds.

I am incredibly concerned for the safety of our students and staff with the predicted high temperatures this week.  As a result, we will allow individuals to remove their masks while indoors, if six feet of separation can be maintained.  Masks will be required during movement in the buildings and on school transportation. Students will not need to wear masks during socially distanced activities outside. Our fellow Washington County schools are following a similar procedure.

If additional guidance is released, we will contact you with full details.

Should you have questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Hover or Mr. McGurl at (518) 642-1051.

The letter below was released this afternoon by New York State. 

If the guidelines go into effect on Monday, June 7th it is the intent of the Granville School District to comply with them. As we have since the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to monitor this and adjust accordingly. 

NYS DOH Letter 06/04/2021

Updated NYSED Guidance

There is new guidance from the State of New York to reopen schools. We have begun to review the content with our safety advisors to determine the best course of action and timeline for returning all students to the regular classroom setting as soon as it is safe to do so. 

As a result of the new guidance, one change is immediate: All students, staff,  and visitors will be required to wear masks at all times (except when eating) while in the building. This will begin on Monday, April 12th. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter. More information will be out this week. 

NYSED Updated Guidance Document

May 4, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that two individuals within our school community have tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

April 19, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

April 15, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

March 26, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has been completed. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health and have already been contacted by a member of our staff. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

March 20, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

March 16, 2021

Good evening,

The Granville CSD was just made aware of two individuals at our MJT building that have tested positive for COVID 19. Given the hour, we will not be able to complete contact tracing tonight. The MJT building will be transitioning to remote learning for Wednesday, March 17th, 2021. Impacted individuals will be notified tomorrow. Those that are identified will be informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact.

At this time, we anticipate reopening MJT on Thursday, March 18th for in-person instruction.  
The following staff at the MJT building should report to campus tomorrow- Administration, custodial, clerical, and nursing. No other staff should report to campus. Please implement your remote learning plans for tomorrow.

Please stay safe and healthy

March 15, 2021

Good evening,

The Granville CSD was just made aware of an individual at our GES that has tested positive for COVID 19. Given the hour, we will not be able to complete contact tracing tonight. The GES building (grades 3-6) will be transitioning to remote learning for Tuesday, March 16th, 2021. Impacted individuals will be notified tomorrow. Those that are identified will be informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact.

At this time, we anticipate reopening GES on Wednesday, March 17th for in-person instruction.  
The following staff at the GES building should report to campus tomorrow- Administration, custodial, clerical, full-time monitors, and nursing. No other staff should report to campus. Please implement your remote learning plans for tomorrow.

Please stay safe and healthy

February 23, 2021

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 19. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. If your child is directly impacted a member of our staff will contact you shortly in advance of the county. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

February 22, 2021

Hello Everyone, 

After reviewing the county's current infection rates and the surrounding counties, we have decided to return to our original position on masking. If you cannot maintain social distancing requirements, you must wear a mask. If you can maintain the distances, masks are not required. We will continue to monitor the rates and trends and adjust accordingly.  This adjustment will go into effect immediately and be publicized on the website as soon as it is back online.  Please let me know if you have any questions, Mr. McGurl Superintendent

February 14, 2021

Good afternoon,

The Granville CSD has been made aware of an individual at our GES and an individual at our Jr/Sr High building has tested positive for COVID 19. The individuals were last in school on 2/11 and as a result, the district has contacted the Washington County Department of Health and is working in conjunction with them to conduct contact tracing. The county will contact any individuals who will be required to quarantine due to the exposure. If your child is directly impacted a member of our staff will contact, you shortly in advance of the county.

Those that are identified are being informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact as a result of the exposure.
Please be safe and stay healthy,
Thomas D. McGurl
Superintendent

January 31, 2021

Good evening,

The Granville CSD was just made aware of an individual at our GES that has tested positive for COVID 19. Given the hour, we will not be able to complete contact tracing tonight. The GES building will be transitioning to remote learning for Monday, February 1. Impacted individuals will be notified tomorrow. Those that are identified will be informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact.

At this time, we anticipate reopening the Jr/Sr High and GES on Tuesday, February 2nd, for in-person instruction.  

The following staff at the GES building should report to campus tomorrow- Administration, custodial, clerical, full-time monitors, and nursing. No other staff should report to campus. Please implement your remote learning plans for tomorrow.

For students and staff at MJT you will return to in-person instruction tomorrow Monday, February 1st

Please stay safe and healthy

Good Evening

The Granville CSD has been made aware of an individual at our Jr/Sr High that has tested positive for COVID 19. The individual was last on campus on school on 1/29 and as a result, the district has contacted the Washington County Department of Health and is working in conjunction with them to conduct contact tracing. The county will contact any individuals who will be required to quarantine due to the exposure. If your child is directly impacted, a member of our staff will contact you. This will not be done until contact tracing can be completed. Given the day and hour, we will not be able to complete this tonight. If a student or staff member has been impacted, you will hear from us tomorrow, Monday, February 1st.

Those that are identified will be informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact as a result of the exposure.

As a result of the need to conduct contact tracing, The Jr/Sr High building will be transitioning to remote learning on Monday, February 1st. Parents and staff, please check your email for information from Mrs. Meade regarding instructional plans for tomorrow. At this time, we anticipate reopening on Tuesday, February 2nd, for in-person instruction at the Jr/Sr.

The following staff at the Jr/Sr high should report to campus tomorrow- Administration, custodial, clerical, full-time monitors, and nursing. No other staff should report to campus.

For students and staff at MJT and GES, you will return to in-person instruction tomorrow Monday, February 1st

Please be safe and stay healthy,

Thomas D. McGurl 
Superintendent 

**Update 3:05 pm:

As a result of our COVID positive results today and the need to conduct additional contact tracing, at MJT and GES, both buildings will be transitioning to full remote learning on Friday, January 29th.
All students and staff at MJT and GES should transition to their remote learning and working plans for the day.

At this time, in-person learning will resume on Monday, February 1st.

Thank you

Good afternoon,

The Granville CSD has been made aware of an individual at our GES and an individual at our MJT building has tested positive for COVID 19. The individuals were last in school on 1/27 and as a result, the district has contacted the Washington County Department of Health and is working in conjunction with them to conduct contact tracing. The county will contact any individuals who will be required to quarantine due to the exposure. If your child is directly impacted a member of our staff will contact, you shortly in advance of the county.

Those that are identified are being informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from the point of contact as a result of the exposure.

At this time, we anticipate both buildings being open for in-person instruction tomorrow, Friday, January 29th. If this changes, additional notices with be sent out.

Please be safe and stay healthy,
Thomas D. McGurl
Superintendent 

January 26, 2021 

Good afternoon,

The Granville CSD has been made aware of two members of our school community that have tested positive for COVID 19 this past week. The individuals have not been in school buildings for a period before the positive test or since and as a result, the district has not needed to quarantine or interrupt regular operations.

I would urge everyone to continue to adhere to all health and safety protocols while in school, at home and out in the community. Together we can minimize the impact and help to ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.

Regards,

Thomas D. McGurl
Superintendent 

January 22, 2021

An update on mask usage from the Superintendent:

Hello Everyone, 

It has been quite a week for sure. I appreciate your patience and flexibility as Granville now takes its turn with COVID. Many of our neighbors have been going through this since October,  so I still feel we have been very fortunate. I have spoken with our administration and healthcare team today regarding our current mask procedures on campus. Given the current uptick in cases and the obvious impact it is having on our instructional program, it is time for an adjustment. Beginning Monday, January 25th, mask use will be required for all students and staff while on campus.  Over the weekend, the three principals will be working out a schedule to provide mask breaks for all students, should they so desire. Students will not be required to wear masks during lunch. Faculty, staff, and administration will be able to take mask breaks during prep periods, breaks, and lunch as long as they are alone. 

Over the weeks to come, we will continue to monitor the situation and revisit this decision as conditions warrant. 

I thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 

Please stay safe and healthy, 

Mr. McGurl

January 22, 2021

Good morning,

Late last night I was notified of a positive test result of an individual at the GES building. As a result of the late hour, contact tracing was not able to be completed. As a result, GES will be transitioning to full remote for Friday, January 22. This included grades 3-6. We will be working with the Department of Health to conduct the tracing and any impacted individuals will be contacted. At this time, we anticipate returning to in-person learning on Monday, January 25th. Should that change, additional updates will be provided.

All staff should transition to your remote schedules and remain off-campus unless contacted directly by Mrs. Talmadge or Mrs. Clark.

Please be safe as we work to weather this together.

Mr. McGurl,
Superintendent

January 21, 2021 COVID Notice

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 29. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and contact tracing has begun. Impacted individuals will be contacted directly by Public Health. At this time, there is no need for closures or a transition to remote learning. 

January 20, 2021 COVID Notice:

It was reported to the Granville Central School District that an individual within our school community has tested positive for COVID 29. We have been in contact with Washington County Public Health and there is no need for contact tracing or quarantines beyond the impacted individual. 

Due to a shortage of bus drivers this week, Students in grades 8 -12 will be fully remote from January 19th thru January 22nd. At this time, we anticipate that in-person instruction will resume on January 25th for these students.  Should this change additional information will be provided. We apologize for any inconvenience this creates.

Faculty and staff should report to the building as normal.

Please stay safe and healthy. 

Important COVID-19 Notice 01-14-2021

December 16, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been the goal of the Granville Central School district to provide your child with the education they need and deserve during this difficult time. We have been met with many obstacles that we feel we have been able to overcome or adapt to. In the interest of keeping our families informed of any changes that occur at the Granville Central School District we would like to address the topic of testing our students, faculty, and staff for COVID-19 as directed by the New York State Cluster Action Initiative. 

Under the NYS Cluster Action Initiative regional areas of the state could be placed in yellow, orange or red zones. Determination of these zones is dependent on positivity rates, new cases and hospital admissions. If the Granville Central School District was to be placed in a yellow zone (the least restrictive zone), we could continue to remain open to in-person instruction as long as we follow specific testing procedures. These procedures mandate us to perform random COVID-19 tests on 20% of our in-person population (students, faculty, and staff). This testing must take place over a 2-week period following the designation of a yellow zone. It is possible that if the results of our testing yield lower positivity rates than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, then we will no longer be required to test as long as we remain in a yellow zone. Should our results show a higher positivity rate than the yellow zone, we will have to continue to test another unique 20% of individuals on a bi-weekly basis. This is the minimum standard we must adhere to. If we were to be placed in an orange or a red zone, we would have to test a larger percentage of our population.

Every student that is tested for COVID-19 has to give consent. No child will be tested without parent/guardian consent. If we do not receive enough consent to test 20% of the in-person population then we will have to resort to fully remote instruction. The consent form is available on the school’s website. If you are unable to access that, please let us know and one will be mailed to you. Any students who are currently fully remote do not need to have consent as they will not be tested. No student will be excluded from in-person if they do not have consent. 

We are working with an independent agency, Adirondack Health and Wellness, who will be performing the tests should it become necessary. A quick video is available on our website to reference how a test is performed. An informational guide of Frequently Asked Questions is also available on the website. We encourage you to view and discuss these with your child. The goal is to inform them not to scare them.

If you have questions regarding testing, we ask that you reach out to your child’s school nurse. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Testing Letter & FAQ Sheet

*Please Fill Out* - Google Form for Testing Consent

How is the testing performed - Click to see the video

January 5th, 2021

Good afternoon,

The Granville CSD has been made aware of a member of our Jr/Sr that has tested positive for COVID 19 over the holiday break. The individual was not in school at the time or since and as a result, the district has not needed to quarantine or interrupt regular operations.

The county health department is involved and has or will be making calls to impacted individuals.  Those that are identified are being informed that they must quarantine for 10 days from contact.

To date, we have been extremely fortunate to avoid repeated interruptions to our program. I would urge everyone to continue to adhere to all health and safety protocols while in school, at home and out in the community. Together we can minimize the impact and help to ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.

Regards,

Thomas D. McGurl
Superintendent 

December 16, 2020

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been the goal of the Granville Central School district to provide your child with the education they need and deserve during this difficult time. We have been met with many obstacles that we feel we have been able to overcome or adapt to. In the interest of keeping our families informed of any changes that occur at the Granville Central School District we would like to address the topic of testing our students, faculty, and staff for COVID-19 as directed by the New York State Cluster Action Initiative. 

Under the NYS Cluster Action Initiative regional areas of the state could be placed in yellow, orange or red zones. Determination of these zones is dependent on positivity rates, new cases and hospital admissions. If the Granville Central School District was to be placed in a yellow zone (the least restrictive zone), we could continue to remain open to in-person instruction as long as we follow specific testing procedures. These procedures mandate us to perform random COVID-19 tests on 20% of our in-person population (students, faculty, and staff). This testing must take place over a 2-week period following the designation of a yellow zone. It is possible that if the results of our testing yield lower positivity rates than the yellow zone’s current 7-day positivity rate, then we will no longer be required to test as long as we remain in a yellow zone. Should our results show a higher positivity rate than the yellow zone, we will have to continue to test another unique 20% of individuals on a bi-weekly basis. This is the minimum standard we must adhere to. If we were to be placed in an orange or a red zone, we would have to test a larger percentage of our population.

Every student that is tested for COVID-19 has to give consent. No child will be tested without parent/guardian consent. If we do not receive enough consent to test 20% of the in-person population then we will have to resort to fully remote instruction. The consent form is available on the school’s website. If you are unable to access that, please let us know and one will be mailed to you. Any students who are currently fully remote do not need to have consent as they will not be tested. No student will be excluded from in-person if they do not have consent. 

We are working with an independent agency, Adirondack Health and Wellness, who will be performing the tests should it become necessary. A quick video is available on our website to reference how a test is performed. An informational guide of Frequently Asked Questions is also available on the website. We encourage you to view and discuss these with your child. The goal is to inform them not to scare them.

If you have questions regarding testing, we ask that you reach out to your child’s school nurse. Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Testing Letter & FAQ Sheet

*Please Fill Out* - Google Form for Testing Consent

How is the testing performed - Click to see the video

**An Updated Message from Washington County - Holiday Travel**

In the Event of a Positive COVID Test Result on Campus

Please see below for our ReOpening Plans for 2020-2021

Not only do we have a document for reference and information, but our administrators have created videos with information on the 2020-2021 Reopening. 

Click the image below for Reopening Document

Building Plans - Overview

Alternate Pick Up / Drop Off Location Request

Please watch the videos below for further explanation of the written plan.