BOE discusses fall re-entry, parents vent on masks

PINE PLAINS — Whether they gathered in-person or virtually, parents and community members tuned into the Pine Plains Central School District (PPCSD) Board of Education (BOE) meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 18, to learn more about the its plans for reopening for the 2021-22 school year.

The meeting came to order in the Stissing Mountain Junior/Senior High School auditorium at 7 p.m., and a recording of the meeting is online, at www.ppcsd.org.

The meeting’s first public comment section heard several people in support of the BOE, focusing on the district’s insistence on masks being worn and following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

Parents speak out about masks

Jared Hegganstaller, a sophomore at Stissing Mountain, said the COVID-19 safety protocols enacted last year “were, at most, a minor inconvenience” and didn’t disrupt his learning. 

One parent spoke in support of masking, saying, “if anyone is complaining, it’s the adults, not the kids.”

“Children are deserving of protection,” another parent said. “Masking should be mandatory throughout the school system for all staff. No child should have to feel singled out for wearing a mask while everyone else is not. Our children have gone through enough over the last year — why add more stress?”

Other community members suggested making masks optional and asked about different aspects of opening schools, such as the plan for school sports. 

Claiming the BOE was going to ignore the parents it disagreed with and believe the guidance issued by President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor and the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. , Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the CDC, Stanfordville resident Cassandra Miller said, “I will not apologize for believing medical choice is one of our many God-given, Constitutionally protected rights. It’s important to fight, especially when it’s in regards to a virus with a 99% survivability rate.”

By 7:35 p.m., public comments were brought to a close to be continued at meeting’s end.

Back to the re-entry plan

Speaking about other parts of the re-entry plan, Superintendent of Schools Martin Handler said the plan was a draft until the BOE approves it.

He added, “it could change because heaven knows that some of this guidance is, to say the least, very fluid.”

With schools opening on Wednesday, Sept. 8, the plan is to have all students be on campus, in-person, five days a week. 

Handler said the district is going to conduct daily health screenings and will require all staff to complete the online health screener; parents will have to complete it for their children. Temperature checks will also be done on school buses as a safeguard.

Upon the recommendations of the CDC, NYSED the Dutchess County Department of Health and the American Pediatrics Association, the PPCSD will require all staff, students and visitors to wear masks while indoors and on buses. 

Individuals who can’t tolerate masks for medical reasons must provide documentation from their physicians. 

Children exempt from wearing masks will need to socially distance 6 feet or more from other students and staff. 

Handler said 5 minutes per hour will be given to students to remove their masks, calling it a “reasonable” mask break.

Though the district required social distancing of 6 feet last year, Handler said, “Six feet means we can’t get all of the kids in the school at the same time.” This year, the district will require only 3 feet of social distancing.

Other highlights of the re-entry plan — all of which were detailed in Handler’s letter to PPCSD parents on Thursday, Aug. 19 — include a daily cleaning and disinfection program and the decision not to offer a remote instruction option this year. 

Regarding quarantining, Handler explained if a student is in close proximity to another student who has tested positive for COVID-19 and both are properly and continuously masked, the non-positive contact won’t have to quarantine. 

Additionally, he said the district won’t have to quarantine whole classrooms this year, “only those students who have close continuous, unmasked contact with an infected person.”

Later, the BOE accepted Handler’s and the Re-Entry Task Force’s re-entry plan to reopen school next month. The Re-Entry Plan for the 2021-22 year can be found on the PPCSD’s website, www.ppcsd.org.