DOE Fall 2022 COVID-19 Guidance
This guidance provides best practice considerations for schools for the 2022-2023 school year to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff.
- Vaccination: Vaccination is the best way to reduce COVID-19 risk. Encourage up to date COVID-19 vaccination for everyone six months or older.
- Visit the vaccine finder page(Open external link) or call 877-829-4692 to find a location near you.
- Up to date includes boosters for everyone who is eligible and additional primary shots for some immunocompromised people. See At-A-Glance COVID-19 Vaccination Schedules (cdc.gov)(Open external link).
- Vaccination Requirements:
- Vaccination is still required for all visitors entering school buildings
- Vaccination is still required for all DOE employees
- Vaccination is still required for other individuals who work in DOE buildings
- Vaccinations is still required to participate in high-risk extracurricular activities including high-risk PSAL sports
- Daily Health Screener:
- No longer required to enter school buildings
- Stay home if sick: Students and staff should stay home if they show any symptoms of COVID-19 or other illnesses and get tested for COVID-19.
- Isolate if COVID-19 positive: Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for 5 days and can return to school on day 6 if they have no symptoms or symptoms are improving. They must wear mask until day 10 after symptom onset or date of positive test, whichever is earlier.
- These cases should be reported to their school so they can be report into the sit room for exposure notifications.
- Get tested if exposed to COVID-19: Students and staff who are exposed to COVID-19 should get tested.
- These individuals should receive home tests from their school and take two tests, at least 24 hours apart on day 4 and day 5 of their exposure. All exposed individuals should monitor for fever and other COVID-19 symptoms for 10 days after their exposure. If symptoms begin, they should not attend school and should isolate and get tested for COVID-19 again right away.
- Testing:
- Starting the first day of school, schools will offer home test kits to those with a potential in-school exposure and those with symptoms
- In addition, each staff and student will receive 4 tests per month to take home. These tests can be used by school families for testing due to symptoms, exposures, high-risk activity (such as travel and large gatherings) and can give staff and students immediate results.
- In-school PCR surveillance testing will not be a part of the 2022-23 school year.
- Situation Room:
- Schools will be required to report positive cases of COVID-19 to the situation room.
- The Situation Room will provide schools with standardized communications for their communities and will notify school communities of cases in their schools through daily email and the Daily COVID map.
- Masking- Face coverings are strongly recommended to be worn when indoors. Masks will be made available at the school for all those who need/want them.
- Students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when:
- Returning to school on the sixth day after testing positive for COVID-19, through day 10 after symptom onset or date of positive test, whichever is earlier, including when traveling on a school bus.
- Entering the school medical room, nurse’s office, or school-based health center.
- Exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 at school.
- Students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, are strongly recommended to wear a mask:
- When they were exposed to someone with COVID-19, whether the exposure occurred in school or outside of school. The person should wear a mask for 10 days after their last day of exposure and get tested at least 24 hours apart on day 4 and day 5 of their exposure.
- When they are moderately-to-severely immunocompromised, and masking is recommended by their healthcare provider.
- In crowded indoor settings
- Ventilation:
- 160K+ air purifiers distributed to schools – at least two in every classroom
- Monitoring ventilation in buildings on a daily basis and perform any required work in a timely manner
- HVAC upgrades in alignment with CDC guidance, including 110,000 MERV-13 filters installed
- School Building Cleaning:
- Routine cleaning of surfaces will be maintained
Get Tested
Rapid Testing at Home
Schools are distributing free, take-home COVID-19 rapid test kits to any students or staff who exhibit COVID-like symptoms or have been in a classroom where a positive case has been identified. Anyone who tests positive on a take-home test should immediately report it to the school and begin isolating. No proof of a negative result is required in order for these students to enter the school building.
Find a COVID-19 Testing Site
All New York City students and staff members are strongly encouraged to get tested. Working in partnership with the Test+Trace Corps, families and staff members can go to any City-run testing sites to get tested or pick up readily available at-home rapid tests.
Get Vaccinated
All DOE students and staff who participate in high-risk PSAL sports or competitive afterschool sports must be vaccinated against COVID-19. “Fully vaccinated” means at least two weeks have passed after an individual received a single dose of a vaccine that requires only one dose or the second dose in a two-dose series of a COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization.
A COVID-19 vaccination requirement also applies to students participating in high-risk after school extracurricular activities like chorus, musical theater, dance/dance team, band/orchestra (with concern for woodwinds), marching band, cheerleading/step teams/flag team. Students ages five and up must be vaccinated in order to participate in these extracurricular activities.
Vaccination Portal
Families are encouraged to record their student’s vaccination status in the DOE's COVID-19 Vaccination Portal(Open external link). Submitting this information will support New York City’s pandemic response and recovery efforts, and help ensure that DOE schools and buildings remain safe places for all students and staff.
- Students and their families can access the Vaccine Portal with the student's DOE account login credentials (email and password).
- Visit the DOE Student Account page or help setting up or accessing your child’s account.
The Vaccine Portal will ask you to identify the type of vaccine, where you received it (in or out of New York City) and when you received the vaccine, and will prompt you to upload the image or screenshot of the proof of vaccine.
- Proof of vaccination can be an image of a vaccination card, NYS Excelsior Pass, or other government record.
- Take the image or screenshot and save it to your computer for uploading into the portal.
- The portal can be translated using Google Translate.
Privacy and Security
The privacy and security of your information will be protected by technical, physical, and administrative safeguards, including encryption. This information will be kept confidential in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.
Technical Support
If you encounter technical issues using the Vaccination Portal, please contact the DOE Help Desk by calling 718-935-5100.
School Visitor Policy
All visitors must show proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to enter a DOE school building. Visitors do not include students attending school or school related activities in a DOE school building.
Acceptable proof of vaccination is one of the following:
An acceptable COVID-19 vaccination includes one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine fully authorized or authorized for emergency use by the FDA(Open external link) or WHO(Open external link).
School Closure
Schools will be closed only when it is determined by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) that there is widespread transmission in the school. With the health and safety measures in place, we expect that school closures will be limited.
Ventilation
Good ventilation is essential to prevent COVID-19. Over the past year and a half, ventilation in every single classroom across the city has been inspected, updated, and repaired as needed. Every DOE room in use by students and staff for extended periods of time will have fully operational ventilation through either natural, mechanical, or a combination of means.
As an added precaution, every classroom across New York City has been provided with two air purifiers. Cafeterias in bigger schools will be provided with large air units for added protection and window-based exhaust fans to provide additional air circulation, and we continue to increase ventilation in classrooms and schools. These measures meet or exceed guidance from the CDC.
- You can check the ventilation status of your child’s school online: use Find a School to locate your school's page, which includes a section on Building Ventilation Information.
- If a room in your child’s school does not have adequate ventilation, it will not be used.
Cleaning
All classrooms and common areas, such as auditoriums and gyms will have hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes available. High-touch” areas such as doorknobs and water fountains will be cleaned multiple times throughout the day.
Outdoor Learning
Last year, 840 schools took advantage of the innovative Outdoor Learning Initiative to expand their students’ “classrooms”. Schools will continue to use school yards, street space, and parks to provide additional space for learning. Schools in areas hardest hit by COVID-19 will continue to receive priority for the program.
Medically Necessary Instruction
Every year, there are some students with medical conditions that necessitate interim educational services outside of the school building. These services are offered for school-aged children (from 3K to grade 12) in all five boroughs, and can include individual in-person instruction by a certified teacher, or individual and group instruction by certified teachers through digital platforms.
Taking COVID-19 into consideration, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has determined that students who have one of the following conditions would be provisionally approved for medically necessary instruction:
- Active Cancer
- Chronic Renal Diseases
- Sickle Cell
- Gastro/Crohn’s Disease
- Thalassemia
- Leukemia
- Metabolic Disorders
- Heart Conditions
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Adrenal Disorder
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Liver Disease
- Tumor
- Congenital Lung Disease
- Congenital Heart Condition
- Lymphoma
- Cerebral Ataxia
- Seizures
- Stroke
- Multiple Sclerosis
Any family with a student who is immunocompromised due to a medical condition or treatment for an orthopedic, non-orthopedic/medical, or psychiatric reasons a medical condition may apply for medically necessary instruction. Applications from families with any condition not listed will undergo review to determine eligibility.
