School districts review COVID-19 re-entry logistics

HARLEM VALLEY — “School districts have until Friday, Aug. 21, to submit plans for in-person learning to the Department of Health (DOH).” stated Governor Andrew Cuomo in a daily coronavirus email update on Monday, Aug. 10. “Currently, a number of school districts have yet to submit a plan. If they fail to meet the Friday deadline, they will not be allowed to open in person.”

The DOH the New York State Education Department (NYSED) are now reviewing re-entry plans. 

On Monday, July 13, the state, the Reimagine Education Advisory Council and the DOH released the “Interim COVID-19 Guidance for Schools,” which be viewed at www.governor.ny.gov. It covers reopening school facilities’ in-person instruction; monitoring health conditions; containing potential transmissions of COVID-19; and closing school facilities and in-person instruction if necessitated by widespread virus transmission. 

Harlem Valley school districts — including the North East (Webutuck), Pine Plains and Millbrook Central School Districts — formed task forces and re-entry committees to make individual plans. They examined how the state’s three reopening models — including an in-person instruction option, a remote/distance learning option and a hybrid model that combines in-person instruction with remote/distance learning — could be implemented, understanding the g models could change depending on the latest guidelines.

A copy of each district’s re-entry plan can be viewed online at their respective websites, at www.webutuckschools.org; www.ppcsd.org; and www.millbrookcsd.org.

Webutuck was granted a one-week extension from NYSED to submit its plan. Since the DOH didn’t grant an extension, Webutuck submitted its re-entry plan to them on the original submission deadline.

“We wanted more time… to make sure the plan we present is the best possible plan we were able to achieve,” Webutuck Business Administrator Robert Farrier explained on a later date. 

Webutuck Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani notified the Webutuck Board of Education (BOE) and the public about the extension at the board meeting on Thursday, July 30. Following further discussion that led to significant changes, the plan was presented at the BOE meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6, and officially submitted to NYSED on Friday, Aug. 7.

“What we have come up with is really a plan and that plan changed dramatically in the last week due to some more discussions that we had,” Castellani said, “but it is just a plan. We are at the mercy of the governor, we are the mercy of New York State Ed, we are at the mercy of the CDC and we are at the mercy of the Department of Health of Dutchess County.”

Once Pine Plains submitted its plan, its BOE called for a special workshop meeting on Monday, Aug. 3, to better understand that plan. A video with an overview is on its website.

Though he commended the plan for being comprehensive and for laying out the details for the three reopening options, Pine Plains Superintendent of Schools Martin Handler informed the public, “This is a pretty detailed plan and we think we have taken as many precautions as reasonable given our circumstance… I cannot tell you that it’s fool-proof, I cannot tell you that we will have absolutely no instances of infection. I will tell you that we have taken every reasonable measure to avoid that and that is our hope.”

In a letter addressed to Millbrook families on Saturday, Aug. 8, Millbrook Superintendent of Schools Laura Mitchell informed families its BOE submitted a re-entry plan to the DOH on Friday, July 31. It was posted online at www.sites.google.com/millbrookcsd.org/covidreentry/home.

“We have been working diligently on reopening learning scenarios: an in-person model, a hybrid model and a fully remote model, knowing that we may have to pivot between them based on changing circumstances,” Mitchell stated. “Regardless of the learning model, our goals remain the same: To provide our students with the quality education they deserve and to maintain a learning environment that is safe, healthy and supportive for our students and staff.”

The Millbrook BOE reviewed the plan at a recent special board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

Schools will open in the fall based on each region’s infection rate. As of Aug. 7, out of the 749 districts in New York, 127 had not yet submitted their plans to the DOH while another 50 had  been declared either incompetent or deficient. 

In addition to posting their remote learning plans and plans for testing and tracing teachers and students online, Cuomo is requiring schools to hold three to five public meetings with parents prior to Aug. 21, as well as one meeting with teachers, to review reopening plans. Parents can opt to participate remotely.

As of Monday, Aug. 10, the DOH was scheduled to contact school districts regarding their reopening status. To date, Webutuck and Pine Plains had their plans accepted; Millbrook has not yet heard about its status.