School Year 2021-2022: Will Your School or BOCES Be Implementing Health Screenings?

When schools reopened for the 2020-2021 school year, it was clear that students, staff and visitors were required to undergo a daily health screening designed to determine if the individual was exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, or may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus. As of the date of this publication, and unlike for last school year, there is no requirement for daily health screening for entry to a school building during the 2021-2022 school year.

Nevertheless, school districts and BOCES may wish to implement a screening process similar to that used during the previous school year. Screening methods varied greatly, from the use of pen and paper, to online portals, to mobile apps. If a district or BOCES wishes to implement a screening system this school year, it should evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of the method used last year, and use this analysis to determine which method of screening may be implemented this school year.

If there will be a screening process implemented, the district or BOCES must pay careful attention to the questions that will be presented on the screening. The questions utilized at the beginning of last school year were not the same as those that were appropriate by the end of the school year. Now, in light of the lifting of the Governor’s declaration of a disaster emergency related to the pandemic, and scientific advances relative to the novel coronavirus, health screenings will necessarily be different. For example, the standard quarantine period was reduced from fourteen days to ten; even at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, many school district and BOCES health screenings referenced a fourteen-day period for exhibition of symptoms or contact with a known or suspected case of COVID-19. Additionally, given the lifting of the travel advisory, there is no requirement to screen for travel outside of New York State, or outside of the United States. Vaccination status was never an inquiry recommended by NYSDOH or NYSED for health screening, although vaccination status may impact quarantine restrictions. Inclusion of vaccination status as part of a health screening questionnaire is an issue worthy of thought and evaluation.

While it is possible that the New York State Department of Health or the New York State Education Department will issue guidance relative to health screenings for the 2021-2022 school year, at this time, school districts and BOCES have the latitude to determine (1) if health screenings will be required; and (2) if so, what questions will be asked. If a district or BOCES wishes to implement health screenings this school year, it is recommended that the content of the screening be developed based upon CDC, NYS and/or local DOH guidance, as well as consultation with general counsel.