We, stakeholders in the Tompkins County (NY) community, are writing to voice our concern about the safety of the plan currently outlined by the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) for reopening our K-12 schools for in-person instruction in the Fall. Specifically, we are alarmed that no testing strategy for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is outlined in the reopening plan last updated by ICSD on July 31, 2020. 

Testing of asymptomatic individuals is crucial because infected individuals begin shedding virus prior to the onset of clinical signs and the majority of SARS-CoV-2 carriers exhibit mild or no symptoms, as reported by multiple studies (a recent example is here) and the CDC. If we rely solely on the symptom-based screening procedures proposed under the ICSD plan, there is little doubt that a significant percentage of students and staff infected by SARS-CoV-2 will escape detection and place others at risk of infection with the possibility of serious downstream health consequences and possible death.

Not testing the ICSD school community jeopardizes the health of our children, teachers and staff with possible disastrous consequences for the entire community.  We support reopening ICSD schools but demand that a convincing testing component be incorporated into the reopening plan of our K-12 schools, developed in partnership with local health authorities and facilities, including Tompkins County Health Department, Cayuga Health System, and Cornell University.