ST. REGIS FALLS — St. Regis Falls Central was forced to move to fully remote learning temporarily after new state guidelines were handed down last week.

“On Friday, the New York State Department of Health issued updated guidelines outlining when students and staff can come to school, and when they have to stay home,” Tim Seymour, school superintendent said in a statement to the district.

The following is the statement from school officials:

“Per the Department of Health, if a student or staff member has any COVID-19 symptoms – which range from a fever to something as common as a headache or runny nose – they have 48 hours to see a doctor and either receive a negative COVID-19 test result or get diagnosed with something other than COVID-19. If they can’t do that, school and health department officials must presume that the student is positive.

“A “presumed positive” case means that not only the student/staff member has to stay home from school, but also that the school and health department have to start the contact tracing process, potentially quarantining at home all of the student’s classmates and teachers who spent more than 10 minutes in the same room with the child.

“Since testing became widely available in the North Country, it’s been rare for those who get a COVID-19 test to get results back within 48 hours. Many doctors don’t have the availability to see their patients within that time frame, as well. As of this afternoon, several students in the District have gone beyond the 48 hour threshold and have now been presumed positive by the Department of Health. As such, the District has been directed to provide all contact tracing information of students and staff members in proximate contact with presumed positive students to the Department of Health. The Department of Health will begin reaching out to any individuals that require quarantining based upon their internal processes.

“Given the utilization of shared staff in our District and the connections that students have to one another in the school community at-large, the District will be forced to switch to a full remote learning model for all students starting on Thursday, 10/8, to at least Tuesday, 10/13. BOCES students and students with placements outside of the District will continue to attend their classes as scheduled. Our ability to staff classrooms will be critically impacted once the Department of Health begins reaching out to staff members and students tomorrow.

“Unfortunately, this change also cancels any sports practices, games, or meets until we re-open for in-person learning. On Tuesday, 10/13, students will learn remotely while we work to re-open on Wednesday, 10/14. An announcement to the community and staff will occur on Tuesday updating everyone on when we will return.”