Friday, August7, 2020
CVES BOCES & 16 Component School Districts Media Release – Reopening Schools: Enacting Gov. Cuomo’s Instructions
Today, Governor Cuomo held a conference call with media outlets to provide an update on the State’s COVID-19 response. The contents of the call have now been reported statewide. The Governor will authorize schools to open for in-person instruction. This authority can be rescinded if infection rates spike. The ultimate decision to open schools for classroom instruction is up to each individual school district.
CVES and its 16 component districts have each submitted their School Reopening Plans to the NYS Education Department and the NYS Department of Health (NYS DOH). The CVES, and each individual district’s school reopening plans were designed to align to the State’s guidance as provided. The reopening plan for each of the CVES 16 component school districts and CVES BOCES can be found posted on each district’s website.
In his press briefing today, Governor Cuomo shared the following clarification of further steps each school district and BOCES are required to take:
By Aug. 21, schools must post the following three plans:
- Remote learning, including how to address equity issues (access to wi-fi and computers).
- Testing – how and when we will test students.
- Contact Tracing – how contact tracing will occur.
Most of this information is already available in the School Reopening Plan that is posted on each school’s website. This will be reviewed, confirmed and continually updated as needed.
Governor Cuomo has directed all schools to conduct three meetings by August 21 with parents/guardians to discuss their concerns about students returning to classrooms. He also directed schools to hold one meeting with teachers to discuss their concerns with returning to classroom instruction. School districts will announce dates for these meetings next week. Meetings may be held in-person or be conducted online.
Our school learning environment and the safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance to all of us. If you haven’t already done so, we encourage parents, guardians and community members to read their school district’s reopening plan. As we work together toward reopening our schools, parent/guardian and community input is an important piece of this puzzle. We will solve it together.
