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Parents continue demanding answers as the 2020 school year approaches

With just 21 days to go until the start of the school year, parents have more questions than districts seem to have answers.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — With just 21 days to go until the expected start of the school year, parents are still logging on and participating in virtual forums in search of even more clarity.

Monday evening, two of the biggest districts in the area, Buffalo Public School District and Williamsville School District, held separate meetings via Zoom, giving parents the opportunity to ask more questions.  

For BPS parents, the major question that has yet to be answered is: when will the district officially release reopening plans?

As of right now, if you go to their website you will find guidelines, which some parents said aren't informative enough to make the kind of tough decisions that are necessary.

Dr. Darren Brown-Hill, Chief of Staff for Buffalo Public Schools said, "we're anticipating sometime this week."

What day? What time? Those questions are still looming.

It was an answer unsatisfactory for many parents who continued to ask the same question - over and over again.

Brown-Hill continued by telling parents the reason behind this has to do with how large the district is and the fact that parent surveys are still trickling in.  

"We are asking people that by the close of business tomorrow please fill out that survey that we have on buffaloschools.org."

But over in Williamsville, it appears plans are moving at a different pace.

The district has released its official reopening plan as well as additional supportive material on its website - something several parents said they were grateful for.

During the meeting, the district shared mock examples of a socially distanced classroom, an elementary school schedule and grading plans via PowerPoint - something the BPS district didn't have during the first meeting, nor the latest one. 

A lot of common ground was covered across both districts. Parents were collectively asking about: transportation, sanitation, scheduling, mask breaks, the specifics of each learning option, the list goes on. 

While there were some concrete answers, there were also some flexible ones. Both districts emphasized that whatever decisions are made could change given how fluid the situation is.

The take away from both meetings was this: more meetings are necessary, as many as it takes to ensure parents are confident in whatever decision they make for the well-being of their child, family and ultimately the rest of the community.

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