Schools across the Mid Hudson Valley reported low COVID numbers

COVID numbers have remained low at schools across the region since the new school year started.   

School districts in Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties reported about 440 positive student cases between Sept. 13 and Sept. 27, according to the state Health Department. It represents about 0.5% of total public school enrollment in the three counties, which was 87,666 as of 2019-20. 

Sixty-three public school teachers and staff were reported to have tested positive during the same period.     

Among the districts in Orange County, Washingtonville has a slightly high percentage of positive cases, with 1.15% compared to an average 0.5% positive cases rate. Kiryas Joel Village School District, Chester school district and the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery district reported zero cases.        

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The “COVID-19 Report Card” dashboard is a searchable site for information on positive cases for schools in New York. It resumed operation on Monday after it had been taken down for modification over the summer. The site also includes the number of positive cases reported by testing laboratories for people between the ages of 5 and 17 in each district. While these numbers may be different than the ones reported by school districts, the state health department says that is due to reporting lag times and other variables. 

While Kiryas Joel's public school, which serves about 200 special needs students, reported zero cases, the testing laboratories reported 21 positive cases, which takes into account children who may attend private or other schools in neighboring districts, according to information on the state database.     

According to Kiryas Joel Schools Superintendent Joel Petlin, the public school that serves about 200 special needs students had zero COVID cases to report.

Pine Bush Central School District Superintendent Tim Mains said the low numbers are a sign that current protocols including masking, social distancing and frequent sanitation are effective. He hopes vaccine for children under age 12 will be available soon so more children can be protected. The Pine Bush district reported 13 student cases, which makes up 0.26% of the total enrollment.      

He added that the district has volunteered to work with the Orange County Health Department to bring in vaccine clinics for students. Last year, a vaccine clinic at the high school gym provided vaccines for about 100 students. 

“We can do mitigation protocols, but the best protection against the virus is the vaccine. Making vaccines more widely available to children would be a tremendous positive step forward,” said Mains. 

hwang@gannett.com