Westchester school districts are discussing a "test to stay" option which would allow close COVID contacts to avoid quarantine by testing negative every day due to the recent uptick in COVID-19.

The students who had close contact with a coronavirus case will need a daily test for seven days following exposure. The state Department of Health doesn't recommend this option, but local health departments can choose to allow this.

There are several stringent state health requirements, though, which include districts providing daily COVID-19 tests, results being submitted before the next day and exposed students returning to school must quarantine outside of school building - meaning they're not allowed to ride the bus or participate in extracurriculars.

Westchester districts are discussing how this can work possibly after the holidays. School officials hope that this will allow more students to learn in person.

Rockland County spokesperson John Lyon says after reviewing the option, "Testing availability and accessibility are not equally available to all the school districts in the county, therefore, the option can't be used locally because of those state Health Department requirements."