Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the green light Friday to reopen New
York's 750 school districts in person this fall -- a data-driven decision that
mirrors the threshold-based calls he made on the phased economic reopenings for
the state's 10 regions. But this decision is different. Cuomo says it's
ultimately not up to him.
"Parents have to be included and believe the plan makes
sense. Teachers have to be included and believe the plan makes sense. They are
the ultimate determination," Cuomo said this week. "If a teacher
doesn't show up, you can't open the class. If a parent doesn't send their child
there's no child to educate."
The state still has to sign off on each of New York's 749
school districts' individual plans; if it doesn't, those districts don't reopen
in September. Of those 749 districts, 127 have yet to submit plans for the
2020-21 school year, Cuomo said. Of the ones that have, about 50 have been
deemed insufficient. The state Department of Health will review the individual
school plans over the weekend and notify districts where it finds them
incomplete, he said.
The governor's decision on reopening school districts relies
solely on the seven-day rolling average positive test rate for the region where
each is located. The threshold for the initial green light he gave Friday was 5
percent. If positivity rates tick above 9 percent in a given region going
forward, the district -- and all the schools within it -- will have to close.
New York's statewide seven-day average has consistently been at 1 percent for a
month. So too has New York City's.
That said, Cuomo says there's more to the schools equation
than the viral transmission rate. All he does is set the floor. Parents and
teachers make the call --- and many have serious concerns about whether school plans
work for them.
Simply telling parents their district is in a low infection
rate region won't necessarily make them feel comfortable sending their kids to
school, Cuomo has said. He says parents need to be included in the specific
conversations now. In some spots, parents may prefer remote learning. Many
prefer in-person school -- and a fuller week than blended learning would
permit. But even those parents may hesitate on safety issues -- and they wonder
what it could mean for their jobs and their kids' educations if schools have to
shut down again, Cuomo says.
His office fields hundreds of calls on the schools issue,
the governor says, so he's familiar with parents' concerns. What happens if my
child tests positive? What happens if another child or a teacher test positive?
How will we know? What about asymptomatic spread? Does testing require parental
permission? Where are the testing facilities and how will the test and trace
process work?
Certain protocols are required statewide. Every person in
school must wear a mask when social distancing isn't possible, for example. See
the state Department of Education's complete guidelines here. While the
governor has outlined core standards, much of the planning is up to the
individual districts.
Cuomo says he'll ask every school district to post their
testing and contact tracing plans online. He also wants full remote learning
plans posted, citing concern he's heard from parents and educators about demographic
inequities in that regard. (New York City gave iPads to kids in need in March
and will do the same in fall.)
The governor also wants each of the five major school
districts, including New York City, home to the largest public school district
in the nation with more than 1.1 million students, to hold at least five online
parent information sessions by Aug. 21. He wants at least one set up to focus
on teachers as well -- because without the buy-in of these stakeholders, he
says reopening is irrelevant.
"They're watching what's happening across the
country," Cuomo said of parents. "They're watching what these other
school districts are doing. They're watching outbreaks when school is open.
They have serious concerns. And they should."
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Wellsville plan: ---
The school district has submitted its re-opening plan to the NY State Education Department. The link to the full plan can be found on our website homepage or by following the link here. Specific information regarding the hybrid schedule for the Secondary School can be found on our website and by following the second link here. The Secondary School schedule reflects a new change since the Monday public Zoom meeting. 6th grade will now have a remote learning day on Wednesday each week with in-school attendance for the remainder of the week. The Grades 7-12 remote learning day has also been moved to Wednesday.
