HAMBURG, N.Y. — Due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Frontier Central School District is temporarily transitioning to fully remote instruction starting Thursday.
Dr. Richard Hughes, the superintendent of schools of the Frontier Central School District, made the announcement Tuesday in a letter addressed to families on the school district's website.
In the letter Hughes says there is a growing number of positive COVID-19 cases and quarantine cases in not only the community, but in the school district as well. He went on to say that just after 1 p.m. Tuesday the school district was informed that several employees in the transportation department must quarantine.
Hughes says the school district doesn't have any other choice but to move to fully remote learning since there is a growing number of students and staff who are required to quarantine.
"This is not where we wanted to be," Hughes said in the letter. "We have done everything we can to keep our doors open to our Falcons but the growing positivity rate makes it impossible to continue to do so at this time. All of us are tired of what the pandemic has done to our lives but we cannot give up the fight. We must do everything we can to lower the positivity rate so that we can return to in person learning sooner rather than later."
Hughes also references that Hamburg is currently in a Yellow Zone and as such, the school district is required to conduct random testing of students and staff without the assistance of Erie County saying, "This recent change requires us to find out more information as quickly as we can before we are able to give our families an answer to what the Yellow Buffer Zone designation truly means for us."
Fully remote instruction will begin Thursday, November 12 and will continue through at least Thanksgiving break, according to Hughes. He added that the school district will continue to access the COVID-19 infection rate, as well as personnel affected, to determine whether remote learning will continue after the holiday.
Hughes says each building has a plan to transition to longer term remote learning, which will be put into effect on Monday, November 16. This information can be viewed on the school district's website here.
You can read the full letter to families below: