This guidance provides best practice considerations for schools for the 2022-2023 school year to help prevent the transmission of COVID-19 among students and staff.

  • Vaccination: Vaccination is the best way to reduce COVID-19 risk. Encourage up to date COVID-19 vaccination for everyone six months or older.

    • Vaccination Requirements:

      • Vaccination is still required for all visitors entering school buildings

      • Vaccination is still required for all DOE employees

      • Vaccination is still required for other individuals who work in DOE buildings

      • Vaccination is no longer required to participate in high-risk extracurricular activities including high-risk PSAL sports

  • Daily Health Screener:

    • No longer required to enter school buildings

  • Stay home if sick: Students and staff should stay home if they show any symptoms of COVID-19 or other illnesses and get tested for COVID-19.

  • Isolate if COVID-19 positive: Students and staff who test positive for COVID-19 must isolate for 5 days and can return to school on day 6 if they have no symptoms or symptoms are improving. They should wear a mask until day 10 after symptom onset or date of positive test, whichever is earlier. Masks may be removed during this period if the person has received two negative rapid tests 48 hours apart.

    • These cases should be reported to their school so they can be report into the sit room for exposure notifications.

  • Get tested if exposed to COVID-19: Students and staff who are exposed to COVID-19 should get tested.

    • These individuals should receive home tests from their school and take two tests, at least 48 hours apart. All exposed individuals should monitor for fever and other COVID-19 symptoms for 10 days after their exposure. If symptoms begin, they should not attend school and should isolate and get tested for COVID-19 again right away.

  • Testing:

    • Starting the first day of school, schools will offer home test kits to those with a potential in-school exposure and those with symptoms

    • In addition, each staff and student will receive 4 tests per month to take home. These tests can be used by school families for testing due to symptoms, exposures, high-risk activity (such as travel and large gatherings) and can give staff and students immediate results.

  • Situation Room:

    • Schools will be required to report positive cases of COVID-19 to the situation room.

    • The Situation Room will provide schools with standardized communications for their communities and will notify school communities of cases in their schools through daily email and the Daily COVID map.

  • Masking- Face coverings are strongly recommended to be worn when indoors. Masks will be made available at the school for all those who need/want them.

    • Students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask when:

      • Returning to school on the sixth day after testing positive for COVID-19, through day 10 after symptom onset or date of positive test, whichever is earlier, including when traveling on a school bus. Masks may be removed during this period if the person has received two negative rapid tests 48 hours apart.

      • Entering the school medical room, nurse’s office, or school-based health center.

      • Exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 at school.

    • Students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, are also strongly recommended to wear a mask:

      • When they were exposed to someone with COVID-19, whether the exposure occurred in school or outside of school. The person should wear a mask for 10 days after their last day of exposure and get tested at least 48 hours apart.

      • When they are moderately-to-severely immunocompromised, and masking is recommended by their healthcare provider.

      • In crowded indoor settings

  • Ventilation:

    • 160K+ air purifiers distributed to schools – at least two in every classroom

    • Monitoring ventilation in buildings on a daily basis and perform any required work in a timely manner

    • HVAC upgrades in alignment with CDC guidance, including 110,000 MERV-13 filters installed

  • School Building Cleaning:

    • Routine cleaning of surfaces will be maintained

Get Tested

Rapid Testing at Home

Schools are distributing free, take-home COVID-19 rapid test kits to any students or staff who exhibit COVID-like symptoms or have been in a classroom where a positive case has been identified. Anyone who tests positive on a take-home test should immediately report it to the school and begin isolating. No proof of a negative result is required in order for these students to enter the school building. 

Find a COVID-19 Testing Site

All New York City students and staff members are strongly encouraged to get tested. Working in partnership with the Test+Trace Corps, families and staff members can go to any City-run testing sites to get tested or pick up readily available at-home rapid tests.

Get Vaccinated

  • We strongly encourage the COVID-19 vaccination for all age-eligible students.

Vaccination Portal

Families are encouraged to record their student’s vaccination status in the DOE's COVID-19 Vaccination Portal. Submitting this information will support New York City’s pandemic response and recovery efforts, and help ensure that DOE schools and buildings remain safe places for all students and staff.

  • Students and their families can access the Vaccine Portal with the student's DOE account login credentials (email and password).

  • The Vaccine Portal will ask you to identify the type of vaccine, where you received it (in or out of New York City) and when you received the vaccine, and will prompt you to upload the image or screenshot of the proof of vaccine.

  • Proof of vaccination can be an image of a vaccination card, NYS Excelsior Pass, or other government record.

  • Take the image or screenshot and save it to your computer for uploading into the portal.

  • The portal can be translated using Google Translate.

School Visitor Policy

All visitors must show proof of at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to enter a DOE school building. Visitors do not include students attending school or school related activities in a DOE school building.

An acceptable COVID-19 vaccination includes one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine fully authorized or authorized for emergency use by the FDA or WHO.

School Closure

Schools will be closed only when it is determined by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) that there is widespread transmission in the school. With the health and safety measures in place, we expect that school closures will be limited.