By Ashley M. Casey
Associate Editor
The Liverpool and North Syracuse school districts have released their plans for reopening this fall. Each district is offering families a choice of hybrid learning (both in-person and remote instruction) or 100% remote learning.
Districts were required to submit their plans to New York State by July 31. All plans are subject to change.
Since all school districts must comply with New York’s “Recovering, Rebuilding, Renewing: The Spirit of New York Schools” reopening guidance document, many of the details of required health screenings, disinfection practices and protocols in case someone tests positive for COVID-19 are the same across districts’ plans.
Parents must monitor their children for COVID-19 symptoms and keep sick kids at home. Daily temperature screenings will be required for all staff and students. Staff members will be required to complete a daily health questionnaire. All visitors, contractors and vendors will have to complete a health questionnaire prior to entering a school building. If a student or staff member shows symptoms, each school building has an isolation room until they are able to leave the building.
If there is a confirmed COVID-19 case, the affected building(s) will be shut down for a minimum of 24 hours.
Employees, visitors and students will be required to wear face coverings when social distancing is not possible. The district will have PPE available for staff and students who cannot provide their own.
Students and staff must maintain a distance of six feet while on school grounds or on school buses. NYS requires a minimum of 12 feet of distance for aerobic activities, musical ensembles and singing.
While the districts will install hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the buildings, there will not be any available on school buses. The state has banned school buses and their drivers from having alcohol-based hand sanitizer “because of its combustible composition and potential liability to the district.”
Read on for more information about your district.
Liverpool Central School District
Liverpool released its hybrid schedule July 27. Its full plan was released to the public July 31. The plan is available through the district’s website, liverpool.k12.ny.us.
Students will be divided into four groups: Group A will attend school in-person Monday and Thursday with remote learning Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Group B will attend school in-person Tuesday and Friday with remote learning Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Group C, which will be made up of some self-contained special education classes, will attend school Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with remote learning on Wednesday. Students in Group D will engage in remote learning only.
Group assignments are scheduled to be announced in the first week of August, and the district is taking families and sibling groups into consideration to try to keep families on the same learning schedule.
In a video update released July 29, Superintendent Mark Potter said the Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday decision was the best choice for the district from an instructional standpoint.
“I do realize this is not the most significantly popular decision, but I will say it was done for student reasons. We’ve grappled with this topic for quite some time,” Potter said. “Realistically, we felt that students would not stay engaged with a five-day lapse in contact with the school.”
Each student will receive an iPad or Chromebook for school use, and families who do not have internet access will receive WiFi hotspots as well.
Liverpool’s reopening plan contains extensive resources about hand hygiene, social distancing and personal protective equipment (PPE). Signage and videos will be posted within district buildings reminding students and staff to wash their hands, wear face coverings and stay six feet apart.
The Liverpool Central School District has a COVID-19 hotline, 315-453-1212. Families may also contact LCSD’s COVID-19 safety coordinator Daniel Henner at 315-622-7148 or [email protected].
Families have until Friday, Aug. 7, to indicate their preference for hybrid or remote learning for their children in a survey available through the district’s website, liverpool.k12.ny.us.
“Parents and guardians will have the opportunity to opt out [of in-person learning] at any point during the first semester of school. Once you opt out, however, you will be unable to participate in in-person learning until the second semester of the school year, which begins on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021,” reads a statement on the district’s website.
North Syracuse Central School District
“Without a doubt, the obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic have created tremendous challenges for our entire world. In creating a plan to address the safe reopening of schools, the North Syracuse Central School District has relied on industry-specific guidelines provided by the New York State Department of Health,” NSCSD Superintendent Daniel Bowles wrote in the district’s plan, released to parents July 30. “The Re-Entry Committee will continue to provide guidance and recommendations navigating the academic, social, and emotional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and employees. As always, thank you for your support as we continue to work together to meet the needs of our students.”
Students in North Syracuse also will be split into groups, but the schedule differs from Liverpool’s.
At the elementary and middle levels, Group 1 students will attend school on Monday and Tuesday and receive remote instruction Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Group 2 students will attend school on Thursday and Friday with remote learning taking place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Group 3 consists of students in special class settings whose instructional program is best accomplished in a self-contained setting. These students will attend school all five days a week. Lastly, students in Group 4 will receive 100% remote instruction five days a week.
At the junior high and high school levels, students will be split into six groups. Each group will attend school in-person one day a week and complete remote instruction the other four days. Group 1 will attend on Mondays, Group 2 on Tuesdays, Group 3 on Thursdays and Group 4 on Fridays.
NSJHS and high school students in Group 5 are students in special class settings who will attend school all five days a week. Lastly, students in Group 6 will receive 100% remote instruction five days a week.
The district will work to provide internet access and/or required devices to families and staff who do not have access.
Students, staff and visitors will be required to complete temperature screenings and health questionnaires before entering school buildings. Anyone with a temperature of 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit or higher or who is showing symptoms of COVID-19 will not be permitted to enter. Student screenings should be completed before they board school transportation.
North Syracuse has built designated hand-washing times into its schedules. The district has removed or disabled hand dryers, which may contribute to the spread of microbes through the air. Paper towels and touch-free garbage cans and hand sanitizer dispensers will be available throughout the buildings.
The district’s COVID-19 safety coordinator is Christopher Leahey, associate superintendent for teaching and learning. He can be reached at [email protected] or 315-218-2148. Visit nscsd.org to view the 43-page reopening document.
