Kingston’s school district is keeping one eye on the present and the other on the future.
The future, near and distant, remains unclear in this time of change, and school districts across the state are looking at how to deal with the increasing likelihood that students may not return to the classroom during the present school year.
The 2020 graduation ceremony is likely to look different than the ones in years past. That’s assuming there’s a ceremony at all. Superintendent Paul Padalino discussed graduation during a meeting of the school board on April 22.
“Are we going to have a graduation ceremony? I don’t know,” he said. “Obviously, our graduation ceremony would not comply with social-distancing practices and requirements. But we are working to figure out a plan. And if we don’t return, what would we do for our seniors?”
As of press time, governor Andrew Cuomo has said that all schools in New York State will remain closed through Friday, May 15. Kingston’s graduation is currently scheduled for Friday, June 26, six weeks later.
Padalino said that school officials have been discussing options, which they hope to share at the next meeting of the school board on Wednesday, May 6.
The superintendent is welcoming input from parents, students and other members of the district community. Because the school year in some other parts of the country begins and ends earlier than in New York State, local school officials hope to see how graduation is handled elsewhere before they need to have something in place.
Padalino said postponing the ceremony is not a viable option.“I think we need to assume if we can’t graduate in June, we need to do something right then,” he said. “Doing something in August, you lose students. Some students go off to work or to the military. We would like to do something for our students right in June, so we’re working on that right now, and we’ll have it finalized prior to the May deadline. And by then we’ll know if we’re coming back or not.”
Scholarships and other awards are also being discussed to ensure students are still able to take advantage of them.
School officials are discussing how grading will work in a district with wide economic and accessibility disparities. Padalino has met with the Kingston Teachers Federation, and hopes to have a plan in place by early May.
The district has distributed 1500 Chromebooks to students for use in remote learning, and Padalino said some have been retrieved for repair. Some students are still unable to access the Internet from home. Those struggles will factor into how grading will work, he said.
“We are working with our teachers and our administrators to come up with a plan that is fair to all students,” Padalino said. “This is a theme. We hear our governor say it and we’re going to say it also. Our theme here is, ‘Do no harm.’ We’re creating a system and calculation that will do no harm given the inequities of what’s going on right now and the differing levels of ability to participate and function in the online learning that we have.”
Live attendance for remote learning has varied, with the elementary schools averaging in the mid-70 percent, with a low in the 60-percent range. High school attendance has hovered between 65 and 70 percent. The numbers are more difficult to get a handle on because of how remote learning is delivered.
“We do have some students signing in and watching when things aren’t live,” Padalino said. “And some students are watching later on in the day, those kind of things. But we’re working on some different practices and some different programs to try and find a way to get a real grab on attendance. We’re pretty pleased with what we’ve seen so far, given the circumstances.”
The most recent meeting of the school board meeting was held with Padalino and board president James Shaughnessy in person and the other trustees attending remotely via video conferencing.
The superintendent provided an update of the district’s food distribution program, a joint effort with the city, county and Kingston Food Collaborative. “Today we put out 777 meals,” Padalino reported. “That’s a significant increase from our daily meals that we’ve been putting out. We’re excited to have the 500-plus meals that we’re making in our kitchens delivering to the collaborative, and they’re distributing them out into the community. We’re working together with the county and the city to see if there are other ways we can streamline this to get even more out.”
Breakfast and lunch is available to pick up Monday through Friday at three sites: J. Watson Bailey Middle School, the Meagher Administration Building, and Robert Graves Elementary.
“Over 26 days we have distributed over 11,000 meals to students,” Padalino said. “Hopefully, these numbers will continue to rise and we’ll be able to feed every student who needs it.”
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