Districts prepare for in-school testing | The Daily Gazette
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CAPITAL REGION School districts across the Capital Region are preparing to begin school-based COVID-19 testing, but local school and health officials are still awaiting clarification from state officials on the specifics while some districts are still ramping up capacity.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday suggested school districts in counties with test-positivity rates above 9 percent would be required to test a portion of its students and staff. If the district’s positivity rates are less than the broader community, schools can stay open.
Schenectady, Saratoga, Montgomery, Albany and Schoharie counties have all registered seven-day positivity rates of at least 9 percent for days, but none have been classified under one of the state’s designated hot zones, which also accounts for hospital capacity and would officially initiate the school-based testing requirements.
Rockland/Westchester Journal News
The new federal stimulus package will provide about $4 billion in aid for K-12 public schools in New York, and it will be up to the state to determine how the money will be spent, Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday. It’s up to Albany to figure it out, Schumer said during a Zoom media call. He expected the state to use its general formula for providing education aid.
The package also includes $313 million that Gov. Andrew Cuomo can use at his discretion to support K-12 or higher education costs related to COVID-19.
Cuomo did not indicate Monday how the state might use federal stimulus money. But he has faced criticism for the way the state used $1.1 billion in school aid that was included in the federal CARES Act passed in March.
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