ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The New York State Department of Health is leaving it up to local health departments to guide school districts on how to move forward with COVID-19 testing for students.

Monroe County Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Michael Mendoza and County Executive Adam Bello say right now, the county isn't in a position to implement the "Test-to-Stay" program.

Dr. Mendoza says first, before considering "Test-to-Stay," the county health department needs to look into how practical it is to test students before school every day, whether all schools across the county will be able to do it and what parents think of it.

"'Test-to-Stay' would allow unvaccinated kids to keep coming to school even while they are quarantined outside of school," said Dr. Mendoza. "I also want to point out we recognize the presence of masks and look for 15 minutes of continuous physical contact to determine who is under quarantine. Other counties do not do this and therefore we are quarantining fewer individuals per case than other counties."

The testing that is happening now, with rapid tests in schools, is not the model of "Test-to-Stay" laid out by the state. Under that model, students who are fully vaccinated would not have to be tested, even after a known exposure. They would only need to continue to wear masks when in school.

Mendoza says as of right now, students who are in quarantine are not allowed to test out of quarantine and can only be released by the health department.

According to Dr. Mendoza, the current model of rapid PCR testing at schools is to make sure students with no known exposure get back to school as fast as possible if they were feeling sick but now are better.

Mendoza says 91 testing kits have been given to 20 school districts in the county and some private schools. He says some schools still have to pick up their tests.