August 7, 2020
Governor Cuomo Authorizes Schools in NY State to Reopen
Governor Cuomo today announced that New York's COVID-19 infection rate has stayed steady at below 1%. Assuming the State stays below 5%, schools can open.
School reopening plans, which were submitted to the State last Friday, July 31, 2020, are currently being reviewed by the Department of Health and the New York State Department of Education, and determinations will be made next week.
School Building Info Sessions Being Convened
Our school building leaders will all be holding information sessions with parents over the next couple of weeks to provide the most up-to-date information and discuss reopening plans. We expect to have a full schedule of these meetings available early next week.
FAQs: Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
If you have not already reviewed the FAQs on the Fall 2020 Restart page, we hope you will take a look now and return to the page frequently.
This week's most commonly asked questions:
Question: Will the district provide a remote learning option for students who qualify with a pre-existing medical condition?
Answer: Consistent with State guidelines, the District will offer a fully virtual option for students with documented medical conditions that prevent them from safely coming to school.
Question: Will the District will provide this same option for ALL students, regardless of whether they have an underlying medical condition?
Answer: As of right now, though subject to change, our reopening plans do not broadly offer a virtual option to the school community. We recognize that parents' comfort levels about sending their children to school for in-person learning vary. The family survey is part of our information gathering to get a clear picture of parents' intentions and preferences. We will consider the feasibility of an entirely remote option from a budget perspective and also look at the flexibility the District might have around parents opting in or out and the District's need to safely plan for a certain number of students. It is unclear at this time whether the State will provide any guidance regarding a remote option.