First COVID-19 Case in Rye City Schools

(PHOTO: The Coronavirus.)

The Rye schools reported Saturday afternoon that “an individual” at the Middle School campus tested positive for COVID-19. “The Department of Health has completed contact tracing for this case,” said Rye schools boss Eric Byrne in an email.

“If you did not receive a call, this means that based on the guidance received from the Department of Health, your student or you as a faculty or staff member did not meet their criteria.”

Westchester County reported two new cases of COVID-19 in Rye when it released numbers Friday. It is unknown if the counts are related. The school announcement did not specify if it was a student, teacher or staff that was sick with COVID-19.

The school notice follows:

“October 3, 2020

Dear RCSD Families,

The District was informed today that an individual at the Rye Middle School campus has tested positive for COVID-19. The individual is currently in isolation and has not been on campus since Thursday, October 1. Due to federal health privacy laws, additional information about the individual cannot be released.

We have been working closely with the Westchester County Department of Health and, as always, the safety of our students and staff is our highest priority. The Department of Health has completed contact tracing for this case. If you did not receive a call, this means that based on the guidance received from the Department of Health, your student or you as a faculty or staff member did not meet their criteria.

For more information about the WCDOH protocols for handling COVID-19 issues, please see their FAQ (HERE) and the recent NYSDOH guidance for COVID-19 decision making (COVID-19 Toolkit).

We will resume school on Monday. Please be assured that we will continue to do everything in our power to keep the Rye community safe.

Sincerely,

Eric Byrne, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools”