STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Since Staten Island was designated a yellow zone by New York state last week, both public and non-public schools are now mandated to randomly test 20% of the school population weekly -- starting this week.

According to the city Department of Education (DOE), 118 school sites are in the Staten Island yellow zone.

We currently have the consent and participation in Staten Island schools required to perform a comprehensive surveillance testing program, said Nathaniel Styer, DOE spokesman. Still, we highly encourage all parents with students attending in-person to consent to safe, fast random testing. Participation by everyone keeps both our schools and community safer.

When Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the citys plan in September to conduct random coronavirus testing at public schools throughout the current academic year, parents were outraged -- with some stating they would not allow their kids to be tested in school.

How does coronavirus testing work?

Testing partners come to district schools to test a randomly selected group of staff and students from grades 1-12. The number of people to be tested depends on the size of the school, but will consist of 10% to 20% of a schools population each month, students and staff included.

Now that Staten Island is in a yellow zone, testing will be conducted on a weekly basis for 20% of the population.

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Once a month, or once a week as Staten Island remains in a yellow zone, a provider will visit your childs school with a randomly selected list of students and staff to be tested that day.

The testing provider will set up in a designated area in the school. Staff from the school or the testing team will visit the appropriate classroom to retrieve students from that class who have been selected to be tested that day. Those students will be escorted to the testing area, tested quickly, and then escorted back to their classroom.

The DOE said it doesnt expect any child to be out of class for more than 15 to 30 minutes total from the time that he or she is picked up at the classroom until he or she is escorted back to class.

How will my child be tested?

According to the DOE, the test is easy, quick and safe.

Instead of the long swab that goes into the back of the nose, this test is a short, small swab like a Q-tip that goes just in the front of the nose. The cotton swab is in the nose for five to 10 seconds, so the entire process of explaining the test to the child and then swabbing him or her generally takes only minutes.

According to the DOE, its possible later this school year that tests will be administered by collecting a small amount of saliva.

You can watch the citys video below of what testing looks like.

Do I need to give consent for testing?

In order to administer a COVID-19 test to students, the DOE needs parental consent for those under 18 years old. The city strongly encourages families to sign and return the consent form.

If you have an NYC Schools Account (NYCSA), you can complete the consent form electronically through the web application. If you revoke consent for testing through NYCSA, please notify your childs school as well.

If your child is selected for testing but is uncomfortable or unable to be tested, the DOE wont test your child and will work with you to address any concerns so he or she can participate in future testing.

If your child is tested, the DOE will let you know; results will typically be provided within 48 to 72 hours.

Where can I find testing results in my childs school?

You can find citywide, boroughwide, and schoolwide coronavirus testing results on the DOEs website.

To find school results, you can go here and search for your school name in the search bar or by typing in the borough in which your school is located.

STATEN ISLAND IN YELLOW ZONE

Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Staten Island a micro-cluster yellow zone last Wednesday because the borough has a seven-day average positivity above 2.5%, as well as increases in its new rate of cases per 100,000 people and new daily hospital admissions.

Additionally, there has been a recent uptick in cases in public schools, forcing dozens of borough schools to temporarily shutter since the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Staten Islands public schools recently reported the highest three-day increase of coronavirus cases since September.

Despite high positivity rates on Staten Island and citywide, the positivity rate in New York City public schools has been low, according to data from the citys monthly random testing program in schools.

From Oct. 9 through Nov. 12, just 0.19% of total coronavirus tests, or 228 out of 123,585 tests conducted at public schools citywide through the program were positive. On Staten Island, 16 out of 6,751 tests, or 0.25%, conducted in public schools were positive.

If positivity rates dont decrease, public schools on Staten Island will also need to close and move all students to remote instruction. The borough could move into the orange zone if the seven-day average positivity rate in the borough increases from 2.5% to 3% for 10 days.

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Staten Island schools begin weekly coronavirus testing: What you need to know - silive.com