The Kingston City School District will move to fully remote instruction beginning tomorrow, Friday, December 4, through Friday, December 11. The district plans to resume its hybrid, in-person/remote, instruction on Monday, December 14.
The change was announced at last night’s School Board meeting. According to a message posted to the district website: “This community spread, and the spread in our surrounding areas, has impacted our students, faculty and staff. The number of faculty and staff members required to quarantine due to contact with positive cases or by being deemed positive due to symptoms consistent with COVID-19 has made it increasingly difficult for KCSD to cover classrooms and ensure the implementation of our safety protocols.”
Here is the full message:
Over the last week, we have seen a dramatic increase in the community spread of COVID 19 in our area. As of this morning Ulster County has recorded 982 confirmed cases, a number we have not seen since mid-March.
This community spread, and the spread in our surrounding areas, has impacted our students, faculty and staff. The number of faculty and staff members required to quarantine due to contact with positive cases or by being deemed positive due to symptoms consistent with COVID-19 has made it increasingly difficult for KCSD to cover classrooms and ensure the implementation of our safety protocols.
For these reasons, KCSD has made the very difficult decision to suspend our Hybrid Learning Plan and move to our Remote Learning Plan from Friday, December 4th through December 11th. We hope to return to Hybrid Learning Plan for Monday, December 14th.
Our faculty and staff will continue to report to school buildings and teach from their classrooms, but students will remain home and learn using our Remote Learning Plan.
During this time of Remote Learning, the district will continue to provide meals for our students.  Please check our website for updated pick-up sites and times, and delivery will continue to be provided for families who cannot make it to a distribution site. Please call 845-943-3663 for more information.
KCSD will continue to monitor the situation in both the county and the state and will work with the Department of Health to determine when it is practical and safe to reopen our doors to students.
The Kingston school district joins Onteora in going fully remote for a week, as well as Duzine Elementary and the Middle School in New Paltz. All schools on the Rondout Valley district have been remote since November 30.
The closures come as the active caseload in Ulster County hit its highest total ever at 1044, exceeding the previous high of 1009, reached April 26. Active cases in Ulster have more than quadrupled since November 1 and officials expect travel and gatherings from the Thanksgiving holiday to propel that number still higher.
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