BUFFALO, N.Y. — In just four days, on Friday, July 31, nearly 700 school districts around New York must turn in their plans to the Governor and state officials to jump-start learning programs in some form for a new school year. Then Governor Cuomo is expected to announce in the first week of August if schools can proceed for a September start date.
As district officials approach that deadline, we're hearing more about the preparation work and challenges they face with ongoing pandemic restrictions and plenty of uncertainties.
Jay Worona, who is the deputy executive director and general counsel for the New York State School Boards Association, says to begin with the state education department along with the Governor's office and state health department put out over 160 pages of guidance back on July 13. 2 on Your Side asked if that's enough time for boards and districts to come up with the proper plans.
"I think it's gonna be hard. I think they have the weight of the world on their shoulders right now," Worona said. "They're doing their best. It's a Herculean task."
Salamanca Superintendent Robert Breidenstein sums it up this way
"There's nothing like this in the history of public education or in the history of education in this country. This is a daunting task."
Breidenstein says various district officials and other staffers in committees have been working out the details. For example one group focused Monday on safety and logistics such as entering or moving between buildings and what would happen in a classroom with the various safety protocols.
"Tomorrow we'll spend seven to eight hours discussing Phase 2 which is what the actual instruction will look like on a day to day basis," Breidenstein said. "And we'll be centered on a hybrid model which is what I think most districts are really actively exploring."
And on Monday night there was a briefing for school board members in Grand Island where they're also focusing on the so-called hybrid model. Half of students would be in socially distanced classrooms and perhaps the other half in distance learning from home with staggered schedules for rotation. There were various points about screening for parents and even the installation of thermal scanning devices in or near the school nurse's offices to check the temperatures of students.
We know various protocols for school buildings, food services, and transportation must be in place in these plans which should also be available later this week for review by teachers and parents on the district websites.
And there's pressure with some reports of liability concerns for districts. We asked the state school boards association about that. Worona stresses the priority should be safety but adds
"You do everything in a prudent way because you know and I know I can be prudent and get sued anyway. But perhaps I won't get sued successfully. So our focus is exactly as I'm telling you to really focus on the preventative practices, What can we do to get this right."
And even if they get the go-ahead from the Governor and other officials in the first week of August Breidenstein says their work isn't done.
"We need to have a fluidity and a flexibility that will allow us to learn as we go but also make important changes to respond to what actually happens each and every day in the school, on the buses, in the cafeteria and of course in the classroom whether it be in person to some percentage or in a remote capacity," Breidenstein said.