The Onteora School District is developing a way to distribute Covid-related information and answer questions in a more timely matter as information changes daily. At the suggestion of trustee Kevin Salem, the district will hold forums in between the biweekly board meetings.
A lot of things change between meetings, traditionally the time when the administration shares information with the board and the public.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said superintendent Victoria McLaren. “I think that in this time, the time between board meetings feels like instead of two weeks, it feels like two months because so much happens every day,” said McLaren. “The more information we can share because things change so rapidly, the happier I will be, and the more we communicate with each other and with the community, the better it is.”
Salem expressed concern that the process of forwarding questions piecemeal to the superintendent was inefficient.
“It’s not just can we be doing it better, it’s can people be informed more contemporaneously, so that they don’t guess or try to interpret a source, so they know there will be a timely way for them to ask a question and know that it’s going to happen on a weekly basis,” trustee Bennet Ratcliff explained at the December 8 board meeting.
Trustee Emily Sherry said she too loves the idea, having received dozens of questions from parents and not knowing how to answer them. “I think it’s really vitally important right now,” she said. “I’m really glad we’re going to go in that direction. I think more communication is always the answer.”
Members of the public can raise concerns during the public-be-heard portion of regular school board meetings, but due to rules and procedures, the trustees and administration members do not immediately respond. A forum will allow for more of a dialogue.
The details still need to be ironed out, and more information will be forthcoming soon.
Remote learning extended
Superintendent Victoria McLaren has decided to extend remote learning in all grades through at least mid-January amid rising infection rates in the county. All or part of the county may be declared a yellow zone as part of the state micro-cluster strategy for containing the Covid-19 virus. The designation is made when an area’s seven-day average infection rate is more than three percent for ten days in a row.
“We are currently on the cusp of that designation,” McLaren said.
McLaren told the board the district was on track to return to in-person learning December 14, but reversed that decision the following day. Remote learning will continue through January 15. McLaren had previously decided to continue remote learning for the two weeks following Thanksgiving break because of spikes following family visits and travel.
If declared to be in a targeted zone, the district must implement a protocol to test 20 percent of people in a building, regardless of whether they are students or staff, in order to allow people in the building.
“There is no requirement to implement a testing protocol, but without it, a building cannot return to in-person learning,” McLaren said.
“I understand that this creates challenges for families and students,” McLaren said in a letter sent to families. “I want to bring our students back into our schools, but do not feel that this is the appropriate time to resume in-person learning. I know that some families will support this decision and some will be frustrated, and I respect both of those viewpoints.”
In her letter, McLaren touched on the testing complications involved with in-person learning in a targeted zone. “As you know, we cannot mandate testing, and would need consent from parents as well as staff. We may be reaching out to families in the near future to determine if testing would be supported by our families,” McLaren said. “Although it is not feasible to anticipate implementing a testing protocol at this time, both the medical director and I want to thoroughly understand what would be required, and if there is support from families and staff before recommending that we pursue a testing protocol.”
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