New Paltz School District administrators have been hard at work to firm up a reopening plan, knowing full well that it will have to be updated as they get more information from county and state health and education officials. The picture that’s shaping up is for all students to be expected in the buildings and wearing masks. No remote or hybrid options will be provided for students kept out of school. There also won’t be regular testing, unless that service is provided through a different government agency.
There will be athletic competitions, but spectators must cover nose and mouth when attending any indoor event on school grounds.
Up in the air are the procedures for determining when an exposure necessitates a quarantine. That will come from the County Health Department, and may not arrive before the plan must be released in some form.
Superintendent Angela Urbina-Medina said that there are not enough staff members to regularly test even those individuals who are not vaccinated. The superintendent advised county health officials that it’s not the supplies, it’s the people to use them. It’s recommended in areas of high transmission, including Ulster County, that tests be conducted weekly. Urbina-Medina is “not quite sure where we are” in terms of getting county help to make testing possible. It’s also not clear if these tests are supposed to be limited to those who haven’t taken the needle, or everyone. “I have more questions than answers,” the superintendent said.
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