Today, July 8, Gov. Cuomo set the first week of August as a deadline for the state to make a decision on the reopening of schools.
On July 13, the state will issue its finalized guidance on reopening schools in the fall.
Minisink Valley is among the 700 school districts who will have until July 31 to make any adjustments to their fall reopening plans and submit them to the state.
Based off of the plans and incoming health data, the state will make a decision during the week of Aug. 1 through 7 if and when schools will reopen in the fall, the governor said during his media briefing.
“As we see, a week can be a lifetime with this COVID virus because everything changes so quickly,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We’ll look at the data in the first week and we’ll make a decision.”
Additionally, he declined to say whether the decision will be a “global” one or made on an individual/regional basis.
As the district awaits that guidance, Minisink Valley is continuing its intensive review of three various school reopening scenarios:
Scenario 1: A full return to school, with strict adherence to social distancing protocols as required by the CDC and other authorities.
Scenario 2: A return to remote learning, similar to what we experienced this spring, with adjustments made based upon many of the lessons learned from this experience.
Scenario 3: A hybrid model, which would include both in-school and remote instruction. This model would allow for a reduced daily student attendance and minimize in-person contact.
Minisink Valley has reached out to the school community asking parents and guardians to complete a short school reopening survey. This survey closes Friday, July 10.
Minisink Valley 2020-21 School Reopening Survey
Encuesta de Planificacion de Reapertura Escolar
The district has also asked all school staff to complete separate staff school reopening survey as well.
We will continue to communicate updates to you as our work continues. We appreciate your time and insight in helping us understand what our community would like for their children during this challenging time.