GREECE, N.Y. — With Monroe County's "Yellow Zone" designation, the president of the Monroe County Council of Superintendents spoke Tuesday on new requirements from the state to test students and staff for COVID-19.

Kathy Graupman is the Greece Central School District superintendent, and president of the Monroe County Council of Superintendents.

What You Need To Know

  • Kathy Graupman says next week her district and other districts in the yellow, micro-cluster zone must test 20% of their students and staff for COVID-19

  • These tests aren’t mandatory, and require parental permission

  • Graupman is concerned for a lack of consent

  • Graupman hopes with enough negative tests, Monroe County can leave the yellow zone

She says next week her district and other districts in the yellow, micro-cluster zone must test 20% of their students and staff for COVID-19, which she admits is frustrating given how low transmission has been in schools.

“It’s a community spread issue, and the schools and the districts are basically now shouldering all the pain of being in the yellow zone,” Graupman said.

In Greece, that comes out to 2,000 people a week, not including those doing remote learning. But these tests aren’t mandatory, and require parental permission.

“This will all be based on consent, so we won’t be pulling kids in and testing them without consent,” Graupman said.

The state is providing the test, but Greece is hiring an outside agency to help administer them. The test is a nasal test, but not the one many may be familiar with.

“It does use a Q-tip, and it just goes into the first part of the nostril to get some nasal material. And that’s what’s used to be tested,” Graupman said.

A new 20% must be tested each week, so Graupman is concerned for a lack of consent.

“If we get to a point where so many people haven’t provided consent and we don’t have new children or students to test, it could force us into going to a remote setting because we can’t comply with that requirement,” Graupman said.

One parent of a kindergartener in the district says he’s fine with the testing.

“I think they should. As long as they protect the kids,” Erik Fairfax of Greece said.

While another says this is the exact reason her students are doing remote learning.

“I am keeping them home because of the testing, or if they were to enforce vaccines on them too, which I’m not OK with,” Milla Khrusch of Greece said.

Graupman hopes with enough negative tests, Monroe County can leave the yellow zone.

“That is the way we are going to get off the yellow list, is by increasing our negative numbers and basically helping our data by getting below three percent,” Graupman said.

Forms were sent to parents, and they are asked to consent by Thursday. There is also an option for those that want to opt into remote learning for the rest of the semester.