BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York State school districts have been forced to adapt to this new way of learning caused by the pandemic, and now some here in Western New York are making changes to their end-of-the-year and summer schedules.
Several Western New York schools have officially announced what will be their last day of instruction for students for this academic school year.
An alert on the Tonawanda City School District's website indicates the last instructional day for students will be Friday, June 12.
Lancaster and Clarence both made the announcement in letters from the superintendents, also with June 12 as the last day of remote instruction for students.
Niagara Falls will be wrapping up instruction for students a few days earlier, on June 9.
"June 9 is early," said Mark Laurrie, the Niagara Falls City Schools Superintendent. "It's about nine days earlier than what was published in our school calendar, but because kids were turning in work during the Easter two weeks, and teachers were providing work during the two weeks, that's why the calendar was adjusted to June 9."
With Western New York already lagging behind some other parts of the state when it comes to starting its reopening, and education in phase four of the statewide plan, Laurrie says traditional summer school programming is unlikely.
"We're planning to proceed with no in-person summer school, summer or summer opportunities that require face-to-face meetings," Laurrie said.
That's something Ken-Ton has already announced.
On the district's website, an alert reads, "All summer programs and activities will need to be cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic."
On a larger scale, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to make a decision about summer school programming by the end of May.