Superintendent Eric Knuth shared the following letter with the Skaneateles school district and community concerning a decision to move to remote instruction due to rising cases of COVID-19.
With our students in grades 8-12 already in remote instruction through the holidays, we continue to see a concerning rise in COVID-19 infections throughout the district. We received notice of six additional infections already this week and we are experiencing quarantine orders and staffing limitations that impact students, faculty, and staff at multiple grade levels.
While we make every effort to preserve in-person learning opportunities for our remaining students, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff. To that end, we would like to share the following plan.
-Beginning Monday, December 21, 2020 all Skaneateles students K-12 will shift to remote instruction
Sadly, after experiencing the surge of COVID-19 infections following Thanksgiving break, we expect the number of cases to explode once again following the holidays. To insulate ourselves from this surge, we need to allow time before any holiday infections or exposures impact our school community. January 19, 2021 is more than 2 weeks following the holiday break, and provides enough time for any exposed or infected individuals to work through the entire infectious period, isolation, or quarantine.
-All students in grades K-12 will remain in remote instruction through Friday, January, 15 2021
-Both Hybrid and in-person learning will tentatively resume on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 subject to local infection data
While I recognize that this is an inconvenience to our families, above all else, our job is to keep people safe. We
wholeheartedly believe that this additional time in remote learning will protect our students, faculty, and staff and preserve our ability to continue high quality in-person instruction moving forward.
Lastly, in partnership with the Town of Skaneateles and the Onondaga County Health Department, we are pleased to share that additional community wide asymptomatic testing will be available prior to the holiday break.
-On Tuesday, December 22 between 9:00 and 3:00 asymptomatic (nasal swab) testing will be available at Skaneateles High School Cafeteria by appointment only. Testing is open to our entire Skaneateles Community but limited to the first 330 to register. Please enter using the high school commons entrance on East Street.
-The registration link will be shared once provided by the county.
Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate these challenges together as a community.
Please have a safe and healthy holiday season with your families.
