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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 06 October 2020

Created: 06 October 2020

Last Updated: 06 October 2020

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Despite social distancing rules that caused the Board of Education to meet in the high school auditorium, many parents showed up on Monday night October 5 to ask the board and administration to make changes to the hybrid learning schedule in force at the district.

Specifically parents were upset that Scarsdale’s teaching hours lagged behind all other districts and that Scarsdale was not offering live streaming. Parents asked for more hours of synchronous learning, more engaging asynchronous learning and more time in school. They requested that the district define the parameters to increase school hours or for a full return to school. They cited low infection rates in Scarsdale and Westchester and wanted to know just how low these numbers had to be for the district to provide more school for Scarsdale kids. Several speakers called on the members of the Board of Education to exercise oversight and represent the parents. Others expressed dismay that they receive no response from the Board or Administration when they speak at public meetings.

Here are comments from just a few of the speakers, some who said they had never attended a Board of Education meeting before.

Lisa Gans
Hi. My name is Lisa Gans and I live at 45 Harvest Drive. I have three boys, a junior in high school, a 7th grader at Scarsdale Middle School and a 4th grader at Quaker Ridge.

I’ve lived here for 14 years and this is the first time I am speaking to the Board of Education. I never really had any pressing concerns to address before, and I have a fear of public speaking, so I apologize in advance if my voice quivers.

I am actively involved in the community. I served twice on the executive committee of the PTA, the PT Counsel nominating committee, and in many other capacities. In addition, having three children in three different schools gives me a unique perspective for the issues currently facing our children’s education.

First and foremost, I would like to say thank you to the teachers who have gone above and beyond for our kids. I recognize that you are doing your job under very challenging circumstances and your sacrifices are appreciated and acknowledged.
I have not spoken up until now because I really wanted to give the restart plan a chance. But after seeing the way our plan has been implemented and looking at the plans of other similarly situated districts, I am convinced that we can do better.
I believe that there is an inadequate amount of live learning, both in person and remote, at the elementary school, middle school and high school.

Earlier today, the Board received a document that compares Scarsdale’s current education plan to 20 peer districts. As the chart shows, Scarsdale students are receiving considerably less in person and remote instruction than students in EVERY SINGLE one of those districts. This analysis did not cherry pick which districts to include. The fact is, Scarsdale students are receiving considerably less than any of our peer districts. Scarsdale is supposed to be a leader in education. How is this possible?

Our elementary schools are only in school for 2 hours a day. Other than specials such as art or music, those two hours a day are their only synchronous instruction for the day. Think about that for a second. Your learners who need it the most only have 10 hours of instruction per week. All of the similarly situated districts in the chart you received either have full-day elementary classes, some of which are five days per week, or a hybrid of in person and synchronous learning where they are live streamed into the classroom. Is two hours at the elementary level really the best that we could come up with? How can it be that Scarsdale is so far behind?

I have heard an explanation from you that the quality of teaching is more important than the quantity of teaching. But for my 4th grader, 2 hours a day is not working. No matter how good the teaching is, 2 hours of instruction per day is not enough.
The middle school and high school schedules are just as deficient. Part of this is because many other districts live stream from the classroom, which you seem unwilling to try, and part of this is because you have carved out an entire day on Wednesday dedicated to teacher development and planning which these other districts have not.

What is the rationale for not offering more live streaming, especially at the High School? Why do we have an entire day on Wednesday without any instructional learning?

Dr. Hagerman, in your October 4th email to a group of parents including myself, you wrote that Scarsdale’s current model of instruction “falls in line with neighboring and comparable districts.” Who are these districts? Because that chart you received today compared us to 20 of our peer districts and none of our schools come close. If you look at that spreadsheet, every single one of them has more synchronous learning than we do and nearly every one of them has some form of live streaming every day. And every other district has some form of instruction on Wednesdays.

At the September meeting, Eric Rauschenbach said that the first formal reassessment of instruction will happen on October 15th. Why are we waiting until October 15th? Our peer districts have already made changes to their plans. Taken literally, we are not even beginning our first review until October 15th. We should be evaluating changes now while our schools are still open and we still can.
I implore the Board of Education, to take a greater, more active role in deciding, amending and implementing any education plan. While decisions may be delegated to our administration, you, the Board are OUR representatives. There is widespread frustration with the education plan and you must step up and fill the void. Time is of the essence and I ask you to please provide answers to the community.
Thank you so much.

Michelle Sterling
Hello. My name is Michelle Sterling. I’ve been a Scarsdale resident for 15 years and have children in the middle and high schools.

I want to start out by saying that I really appreciate the in-person learning that has happened over the past 2 weeks of school. The Scarsdale teachers have once again shown that they are fantastic at in-person learning. I want to thank our teachers for their commitment, diligence and hard-work, and what I feel is their true commitment to our children and their education.

Along those lines, Id like clarity from the Administration around what the metrics are for increased in-person education for our students. We all know - and have had communications from the district already – about what will happen if there are COVID cases in school. However we have not received any metrics, plan, nothing in fact to my knowledge, about increasing schooling and how, when or under what circumstances that will occur. We have 18,000 residents in Scarsdale. For the past 2 months we have hovered between having 3 and 9 cases in total in Scarsdale. If we are not opening up a little more with these statistics, then my question is when will we? I would really like clarity on this.

Regarding Wednesdays, I just keep asking WHY. Why is there no school on Wednesdays. We have heard from the district on this, and frankly the oft repeated answer is so non-sensical that it is almost insulting to our community that we keep being given it. Please allow our teachers to teach 5 days/week. Please allow our children to learn from their teachers 5 days/week.

Regarding curriculum, in addition to the 20% automatic cut in curriculum which is happening due to having Wednesdays off, there seem to be other curriculum cuts happening, which make sense due to the gaps in synchronous learning time. Perhaps in certain classes it is ok, however I wonder how it will be handled in, for example, math and science. My daughter is taking biology this year – if she only covers ½ of the material, what ½ is in and what ½ is out? And what happens when she goes to take the AT or an AP? Im not sure how this is workable.

In addition to the above requests, what i also ask is this: please be forthright with us, and please communicate with us clearly and honestly. And for every request, please work on reasons to yes rather than all of the reasons to no. It’s always going to be harder to do things than to not do them. This is a difficult and challenging time - as the Administration has stated to us many times. This is something that we all know and are not in denial of. Yet how about we take this most difficult of situations and rise to it - maybe as we have never done before - and find some ways to yes, so that our children can get the best possible education under these circumstances. We have great kids who want to learn. We have great teachers who want to teach. Let’s please make this happen.

Stephanie Israel
Good Evening. My name is Stephanie Israel and I live at 64 Stratton Road. I have a fifth grader at Quaker Ridge and a 7th grader in the Middle School.

There is no doubt that the education that my children have received so far this year is mediocre at best, a small percentage of what they would normally learn and the lack of live instruction is setting them back educationally. I must say that asynchronous learning has been an abysmal failure in my household – my 5th grade son has melt downs on a daily basis and my 7th grade daughter is enjoying a Harry Potter marathon. So it pains me to see you all patting yourselves on the back at every board meeting for a job well done. You should be embarrassed, particularly when you compare what our “stellar” district has been able to deliver in comparison to many surrounding communities.

I would like to address this evening a serious shortfall of the Restart Committee and the Board – that is the failure to determine or to communicate concrete metrics that will allow for the reopening of schools on a greater basis.

Dr Hagerman stated on September 23 in his update that “our ultimate goal is to move toward more in person schooling as health metrics and state directives allow”. Furthermore, he stated that “our return to school on a more traditional schedule depends on several factors, many of which are out of this community’s control”.
The fact that the Board and the Restart Committee have not been able to communicate to its constituents the metric goals that we must reach is one of your biggest failures. These goals should have been determined last spring or this summer but it is ridiculous that we are now in October and they have not been communicated.

Furthermore, to use these health metrics and state directives as a cover for not opening on greater scale is a real dereliction of your duty. Considering the multitude of surrounding districts that are under the same state directives and have the same health concerns – and somehow are able to open on a greater basis – really makes me question your honesty. We as a community were not born yesterday and we deserve the truth. The rumor is that the dismal status of our live learning (either in person or via live streaming) is currently due the board bowing down to the unreasonable wishes of the teachers’ union. But we are dealing in rumor because you fail to be transparent. You are elected and hired by this community and you owe us some real answers. It is insulting that your answers to many questions are vague and non-answers. It is also insulting that we sit here at a meeting like this where you don’t answer questions. You honestly shouldn’t be allowed to leave this meeting until you fully explain to our community the metrics that the district will use to determine when our children can receive a will reactive a greater amount of live instruction. Additionally, you should provide the detailed reasons as to why our district is not able to live stream classes on a greater basis.

To specifically address metrics – it is unreasonable to require the eradication of the virus to return to school, as that likely will never happen. It is also unreasonable to require the existence of a vaccine – as that can take years of development and even longer for wide-spread usage. Proper metrics need to be based in science and reality and not in fear and be clear measurable statistics such as rates of positivity or current cases. Additionally, we need to use the metrics as they are today to make opening determinations for today and not the fear that at a later date they may be worse. We shouldn’t stop properly functioning today for potential what ifs at a later date.

So in sum, I want to know and deserve to know what is keeping my children from receiving a greater amount of live instruction, similar to what is delivered in neighboring districts. We should be doing the same or frankly better than many of these other districts. And currently now when we compare what we are doing with 20 other districts in the area – we are doing the least – which is reprehensible.

Following the meeting of the Board of Education, Israel sent the following:
I came out of the meeting more scared then I've ever been for the state of district. It became very clear at the meeting that the district has bargained away our children's education with the STA. It appears that they have agreed in their CBA that cohorts must remain and that widespread live streaming will not occur.

It also became clear that the possibility of any improvements will not come any time soon. One board member (Ron - the only one who seems to have the community's interest at heart) made the very good point that 10% of the school year is over. However the district has laid out a plan for analyzing any improvements that will take months. They will first start to review the status quo on the 15th of October. They then plan to ask for surveys and other feedback loops and then once all information is gathered will then present to the board and then discuss what if any changes or improvements can be made. They did not lay out a tight timeframe for making anything occur and in fact the loose process they shared sounded to me as it could be months before we see any possible changes.

A few other things that really stood out to me at the meeting:

1) Pam said that they have no plan and they do not know what they are doing tomorrow. The fact that the Board does not have a plan of action in place - one that could be modified appropriately based on virus unknowns - is such a dereliction of their duty. To not be able to provide any metrics to measure how the schools move forward -- this year, next year or into the future is shameful. It really made clear to me that the Scarsdale school system has no plan to educate my children on more than a 50% basis for likely this year and possibly longer. The fact that the board and administration do not see an issue with this is astounding.

2) Dr. Hagerman hardly spoke at the meeting and did not address the questions or concerns raised by the constituents present at the meeting. One of the few times he spoke he said that he recently spoke to a friend that is a superintendent in another district - and that district had just fully reopened. He chose to frame that reopening in a negative light and as a failure by saying his friend had six classes that had no teachers upon their reopening. Given the fact that districts on a daily basis provide 100's and possibly over a thousand classes - the fact that his friend's district had over 99% of their classes take place should have been presented as an amazing win. Dr Hagerman's perspective on that reopening very clearly demonstrates to me why our district's education offering to our students is so dismal. He view's our 50% education as a success. This leaves me speechless.

Parents in this community should be in an uproar. Our school administration has traded away our children's education to unreasonable demands by the STA and our Board does not represent the community's voice. I am not very familiar with school boards and local governance but from a quick read - below are the typical responsibilities of school boards. Our board is failing in every responsibility.

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Written by: Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 22 September 2020

Created: 22 September 2020

Last Updated: 22 September 2020

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This letter was drafted by a varied group of concerned parents with students in each Scarsdale elementary school, SMS, and SHS who represent a consensus approach to authorship and signed on as early support for the requests in this letter. Together, this group welcomes the community to sign on as equal voices and in a collaborative spirit of support for our students.

Add your name here:

September 21, 2020

Open Letter to the Board of Education and Superintendent Thomas Hagerman:

While we acknowledge the difficulties inherent in educating Scarsdale’s children during a pandemic, we respectfully express our urgent concerns about deficits we see in the opening weeks of school that we believe can and should be addressed as soon as possible.

There is insufficient structured learning time planned for Scarsdale students relative to other similarly high performing districts using hybrid plans.

1) Please work to provide more in-person, synchronized or virtual instruction to reduce deficits in covering curriculum. Especially while infection rates are relatively low, in-person schooling must be optimized.

2) All students should return to some form of synchronized instruction on at least a portion of Wednesday.

3) Like other peer districts, live streaming should be an available and broadly used tool in our toolbox. Commitment to care around student screen time should not preclude some live streaming of classrooms (simulcasting) for students at home to facilitate synchronized instruction with a goal to allow more curriculum coverage, especially for older students.

4) Please offer more structure or creative options for each student on the days/times that they are expected to work independently.

There is insufficient process transparency which contributes to mistrust between parents and the district leadership.

1) To ensure a public process for discussion of school schedules and related decisions, we ask that moving forward, the Restart Steering Committee formally report to the entire Board of Education and Superintendent.

2) The Restart Steering Committees and task forces should provide measurable goals with an updated timeline for their ongoing work to ensure broad accountability to all stakeholders.

3) Moving forward, Restart Steering Committees and task forces should publish agendas and meeting minutes, and produce working documentation of decision rationales, benchmarking against other districts in the region and our own district standards, and evaluation metrics.

There has been a lack of clear communication about rationales for restart goals with too few planned opportunities for community input and feedback.

1) As a readily available communications platform, we recommend more frequent special BOE meetings focused solely on these pandemic-related instructional issues to ensure the community can hear updates from the Superintendent. The community benefits from hearing board-level discussions and having the opportunity for public comment.

2) We recommend the District redouble efforts toward improving communications with clearer and more easy-to-navigate updates. We would welcome more frequent District and building-level parent Zoom sessions, including the opportunity for live questions and comments.

3) Peer school districts have pursued a number of different educational plans. We urge canvassing of our peers with respect to their year-opening experiences, in search of best practices.

4) Communicating the adjustments to core curricula impacted by hybrid plans must be a priority so that parents can better gauge what has been proposed and can give feedback.

5) All teachers, including in the upper levels, should communicate directly with parents about their unique approaches and plans for the school year. We understand that, especially in the upper levels, student independence is ideal but in these new circumstances, parents benefit from some inclusion in order to effectively partners from home.

Time is of the essence for our children. While challenges are unprecedented, we are counting on the Scarsdale School District to reduce the deficit as much as possible for Scarsdale students with respect to their education. They don’t get this year back.

We ask for these issues to be addressed at the October 5 Board of Education meeting, if not before. We are counting on Superintendent Dr. Hagerman to execute on a vision that supports Scarsdale as a leading school district.

Add your signature to the letter here:

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Written by: Ezra Lerner

Published: 16 September 2020

Created: 16 September 2020

Last Updated: 27 October 2020

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Seating for the Board, cabinet and audience was at a distance at first in person BOE meeting of the school year.Throughout the first, in-person, Scarsdale Board of Education meeting since COVID-19 forced discussions online, the local response to a national pandemic was omnipresent.

Scarsdale School District Superintendent Thomas Hagerman spoke early in the meeting—which took place in the socially-distanced Scarsdale High School auditorium, as opposed to the traditional Board of Education room—by remarking on the deliberate approach taken to the beginning of the school year. While last week was marked by “introductions and orientations,” explained Hagerman, this week was defined by “gradually returning to in-person school with the onboarding of our cohorts.”

Personnel

Assistant Superintendent Drew Patrick then briefed the room about staff requests, noting that 98 total staff members had filed for allowances related to “ADA and COVID-19 in particular,” and that 17 remote-work accommodations had been granted, “due to allowable reasons under the law.” Patrick also noted that there will be six people working remotely as a result of the virtual-only, elementary model, “even though they didn’t specifically qualify for remote accommodation.”

Another challenge highlighted by the Assistant Superintendent was teacher efforts to find childcare. “We will have some need for coverage and some substitute work here and there as we continue to transition,” explained Patrick, attributing this to school districts in surrounding areas operating on their own schedules. Nevertheless, he noted, “by and large, our folks have been able to find accommodations for their own children and their own family situation.”

Public Comments

Public comments, despite being consistently interlaced with appreciation for the efforts of the school board and faculty, revolved almost entirely around consternation with percieved deficiencies in the current hybrid model of instruction. Perhaps the most frequent point of contention was the amount of asynchronous instruction offered to students on Wednesday, with multiple speakers claiming that students have begun referring to those days as “Netflix Wednesdays,” given the lack of structured activity offered. Multiple calls were made for added synchronous learning to the school schedule.

Other public concerns included the district’s decision to not allow for live classroom sessions to be simulcast to students at home.

Parent Diane Greenwald said, "I hope you will keep Wednesday morning in mind for moving to virtual or in person classes for all students — has a schedule been developed for this possibility? Couldn't a-synchonized work be accomplished in the 22-odd hours of time the kids are not in any instructional time, that does not include Wednesday?... Obvioulsy teacher training and collaboration is critical. but I also hope the teachers can figure out how to both collaborate and to teach at least part of Wednesday, into the future?" She also expressed concern that the decision not to simulcast meant deep cuts in the curruiculum.

Other parents, such as Beth Gelles, echoed this concern, noting that “only 54% of children’s traditional curriculum would be covered this year.” As an education consultant who helps high school students around the country get into college, she expressed frustration that her clients in other districts were currently receiving more instruction than Scarsdale students and concern that Scarsdale High School’s reputation would suffer as a result.

Mimi Rocah also expressed apprehension about the lack of livestreamed classes. She said, “I have been talking with parents at elementary and middle school level. Our main concern is the asynchronous portion of school – both the number of hours and the quality of the content. We can’t put our heads in the sand. In other districts the cohort who is at home is having live streaming. Why can’t we do this? What is the explanation? No one seemed to know. Explain it to us.”

Patty Lubin and Liz Hoexter spoke, with Lubin calling for reopening determinations to be driven by a “metric-based decision point.” She said, “Our numbers are pretty good now…. If kids adhere to the rules, there is a thought that they can return to school I person in a fuller way. How do we move forward to the next phase?”

Liz Hoexter proposed that math and science be prioritized as in-person classes.

Judith Berger Eforo, called out a board member on stage for looking at his computer during her comments, and asked the school to add more instructional time for her two children in their senior year. She said, “Our kids want to learn – they are desperate for it. They want to learn. They don’t need Netflix Wednesdays.”

Allison Connor and Eileen Donovan both voiced fears about information retention, with Donovan speaking to backward slides in students’ curricular knowledge, and Connor advocating for Zoom lectures to be recorded and archived, so that they can be returned to at a later date.

Bob Harrison, the only public commenter who no longer had children in the Scarsdale school system, spoke at length about his love for the tennis programs in Scarsdale and his desire to facilitate an end-of-summer tennis tournament. He had to be told by Board president Pam Fuehrer to stick to relevant topics.

Superintendent Hagerman responded to some of the most pressing public concerns hours later, after President Fuehrer noted that the public audience had already left, by stressing that “we [school faculty] are really focusing on the core aspects of our curriculum.” He made clear that teachers are intent on preparing students for taking standardized testing. He also noted that it was the first time he heard the term “Netflix Wednesdays,” but that he trusted Scarsdale High School Principal Kenneth Bonamo’s explanation of how the district steering committee had decided to divide up the school week. The Superintendent rejected the interest in livestreaming in-person classes. “We’re unclear of what the purpose is,” explained Hagerman. “We don’t believe that kids should be in front of a screen eight hours a day as part of our philosophy around this work.”

The superintendent also postponed considerations of increased in-person instruction, citing a desire to determine that current measures were effective before making any modifications. “We [want to] have a high level of confidence” in the efficacy of what we are doing now, he explained. Hagerman did, however, express that there is a desire and a plan to hopefully resume 100% in-person instruction before the end of the school year. Assistant Superintendent Eric Rauschenbach echoed the existence of this plan, while also noting that doing so would require a relaxation of the social distancing guidelines currently required by New York State. The first formal reassessment of the instruction breakdown will be October 15th.

Safety and Security

Assistant Superintendent Rauschenbach also gave a school safety report, where he explained that drill requirements have not been relaxed this year, and each school building has their own plans for carrying these out. He also explained that a genuine crisis would allow for the relaxation of social distancing guidelines. “If there needs to be an evacuation of the building because of a true emergency, social distancing is not maintained in that situation. The emergency takes precedence over that.”

Greenacres School

One aspect of the Board of Education meeting that was not entirely centered around COVID-19 was a presentation of the renovations to Greenacres Elementary School.

Greenacres Principal Sharon Hill explained that the five-year project had concluded on August 27th, with the exception of the library and the computer lab, which were still under construction. Hill expressed excitement about a range of new additions to the school, including a learning commons, “beautiful lockers,” storage capacity in music classrooms, and rockers “to support students who need to wiggle a little.” Even this news, however, was not entirely unaffected by the pandemic. Principal Hill noted that students will not be able to take advantage of the full range of school features for some time.

Athletics

Ray Pappalardi, Director of Physical Education, Health and Athletics, announced a number of starting dates for high school sports seasons. Cross country, field hockey, girls tennis, and boys and girls soccer will begin on September 29th. “Those sports are classified as low and moderate risk by the New York State Department of Health,” explained Pappalardi. The winter sports season will begin on November 30th, with high-risk fall sports (cheerleading, football, and volleyball) scheduled to begin on March 1st, 2021. The spring sports season is currently set to begin on April 16th, 2021. Given the lack of public facilities currently available, girl’s swimming is also expected to be moved back to the March 1st, 2021 date.

Pappalardi also explained that as sports practices will occur on students’ cohort days, he is currently “working on a plan to integrate Wednesdays and Saturdays” as practice days, “so we can get students to their minimum practice as soon as possible. Even with October 17th currently set as the earliest possible date for Scarsdale High School sports teams to compete in games, inter-school competition schedules have not yet been finalized. Pappalardi also explained that there may be “limited competitive opportunities” for Scarsdale High School’s “B-teams,” and that they do not expect inter-school competition at the middle school level. Intra-squad programs and games are, however, are being looked at in both cases.

Budget

Assistant Superintendent Stuart Mattey led the budget transfers portion of the meeting, estimating that the district’s total COVID-related costs, thus far, have come to around $2.56 million for the 2020-2021 school year. Among other things, that money has gone to hand sanitizer, thermometers, masks for faculty, cleaning, signage, window fans, air purifiers, “additional instructional staff,” internet improvements, and “instructional supplies” to improve the quality of virtual learning. While some of these figures, like staff costs, have been priced out for the entire year, the current stock of purchased supplies are not expected to last that long.

Although Mattey did note that some of these additional costs will be offset as a result of decreases in items like field trips, he explained that the additional money required for coronavirus-related purchases will come from “unassigned fund balance.” He asked for that transfer of funds to be discussed at the next board meeting, while also mentioning that the reallocation would not actually happen until later in the school year. In response to questioning from board members, Mattey did say that this expenditure could affect the district’s rating and future budget conversations. He felt it difficult, however, to talk about this as it relates to the tax cap, due to decreasing state, coronavirus-related assistance. Superintendent Hagerman promised to keep board members updated on the lobbying and advocacy efforts of the school district surrounding that.

The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 5th, 2020.

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Written by: Pam Miner

Published: 08 September 2020

Created: 08 September 2020

Last Updated: 08 September 2020

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Socially-distancedn libraryOn September 14th all Edgemont students will return to school, whether in-person, remotely, or in a hybrid model. The hybrid model calls for all students attending in person to be in school 50% of the time, with virtual learning for the balance of the school day. The district has pledged to offering extensive training to faculty, staff, students and their families on public health policies and protocols to be delivered in age appropriate ways. Protocols will include hand hygiene, proper face covering procedures, social distancing, and respiratory hygiene.

The reopening plan utilizes a hybrid approach that varies somewhat between the elementary and middle and high schools. Whether students are at home or in their classrooms, School Superintendent Dr. Victoria Kniewel says the district remains committed to providing the very best educational experience, while prioritizing community building and relationships along with excellent academics. To make this happen, the district has promised that students will be “Remote But Connected” through teachers using such techniques as morning meetings, student engagements, responding to writing prompts by other classmates, and group projects assembled in-person or virtually.Hand sanitizers have been installed at the entrance to all buildings.

Elementary school children will attend school daily, either for the morning or afternoon session. They will receive work to work on remotely for the other portion of the school day. The middle school and high school students will attend school mornings or afternoons, with remote learning to be provided the other times. This distance learning will be both asynchronous and synchronous, with students utilizing a variety of technology resources to engage in real-time learning.

Dr. Kniewel has stated that it is possible that the district may need to alternate between in-person and e-Learning throughout the year due to recommendations and guidance from our partnering agencies, and stay-at-home orders from the New York State Governor. The level of infection, the spread of the virus and response to the disease in the community will be at the forefront of their decision making as they move to open Edgemont schools.

Here is a link to Edgemont’s Reopening Plan. It goes into extensive detail on all aspects of the reopening including:

Communication/Family and Community Engagement - stakeholder involvement, signage, etc. -

Health and Safety - screening, testing, contact tracing, etc.

Facilities - alterations, additions of tents, ventilation, etc.

Child Nutrition - school lunches

Class Schedules - set for the elementary schools; still in progress at the ms/hs

School Activities - arts, music, school clubs and sports

Teaching and Learning Methods - online methods, hybrid methods

Special Education

Safety instructions have been posted.Commenting on the plan, parent Stephanie Newman said, “Edgemont’s hybrid approach seems well thought out and offers a compromise between the classroom and remote environments.

The reopening plan—splitting time equally between in person and on line, half in am, half in pm, masks required (at least at the high school where my son is a rising senior)—seems well thought out. While there was some initial disappointment at not being able to seeing friends assigned to the other shift, kids have figured out they can meet off-campus in small groups to eat or study together in between shifts.

By reducing group sizes and lessening the intensity and frequency of in person engagements, the administration has found a way to prioritize safety, which is something all of us value right now.

Obviously there are no perfect scenarios right now, but the current plan seems to offer a good solution—though many of us are holding our breath, waiting to see how things evolve this school year.”

Cathy Rosen, a mother of four, was also happy with the plans. She said,” I couldn’t be more pleased that my kids are going to school 5 days a week, in person for 1/2 of the day with remote learning the other half. I feel that those making the decisions for Edgemont school district understand that our kids ideally need in person instruction and have their best interests in mind. They also understand those who have reasons for their kids have full time remote instruction and have provided that option as well.

Personally I think anything we can do to offer our kids some normalcy during this time is just as important as providing a safe environment.ASignage to direct flow of traffic and taped markings to keep students socially-distanced while waiting in hallway

With that said I am also pleased that Edgemont is doing all they can to provide sports options to our kids with in the State guidelines. I do wish we would follow our surrounding states with regard to football and volleyball but that is out of the districts hands.

Bottom line is - we all got through the last two quarters of last year the best we could with everything changing and happening so quickly. I feel that the district proved to be extremely thoughtful and provided the best plan possible at this time."

And Jennifer Rosin Klion said,"It is obvious that the Administration has put a great deal of thought into creating a scenario where the children’s’ Social-Emotional well-being is as important as their Academic well-being. Fingers crossed! “

Here are some FAQ’s of interest on the District’s reopening plans:

For the Elementary Schools:

Scheduling challenges:

If we make use of the larger and outdoor spaces, can’t more students come for in-person learning at once?

We are counting on outdoor spaces as places for mask breaks and some activities but are not scheduling the outdoor space as a full-time instructional spaces as we could not design them in such a way to support all of our instruction.

What will the remote portion of the day look like? Will students be interacting with their teachers from home?

We are working to ensure a robust remote schedule and instruction during the remote portion of the day. The students will have an opportunity to interact with teachers as well as teacher aides and assistants while at home synchronously via our hybrid instructional model.

Is live-streaming from the homeroom class a possibility?

We are looking into if this is possible for our teachers and students given the infrastructure of our buildings and classrooms. Our goal is for our students who are remote to remain connected to the classroom learning which can happen in ways other than via live-streaming, e.g. via the use of Google Classroom and Google Meets.

Specials, Breaktimes:

Will students have specials? Will specials be held during in-person school time?

All students will continue to have specials. We are still determining the best way to conduct the specials classes and anticipate that they will be taught predominantly remotely with some in-person instruction as well.

Will students have recess?

The students will have an opportunity for a mask break and snack in the AM session. There will be no scheduled recess time on either schedule.

How will bathroom breaks be handled?

Students will be allowed to use the bathroom if they need the bathroom. Students in classrooms with internal bathrooms will be permitted to go one at a time under teacher direction and supervision (younger children). Older children who use communal bathrooms will be permitted to use them on a schedule. We are considering having our teacher aides assist us in managing bathroom traffic to ensure that social distancing is in place.

For the Middle and High Schools

Scheduling:

Why did the district choose an AM/PM hybrid program? Other districts are doing it differently.

The district considered many different hybrid schedules. The AM/PM schedule is the one being proposed because:

-Students are on campus every day with this model, providing a daily structure for students and parents.

-Students do not eat lunch on campus. This avoids the health concerns of students needing to eat and remove masks.

-We have longer class periods and fewer periods (6 instead of 9) during the day. This means we have fewer transitions on campus during the day.

-Students wear a mask half of the day, not all day.

-The plan limits students' screen time by only having elearning half of the day.

Why is full-day, in-person learning not an option?

The school does not have enough space to socially distance all students on campus for a full day. The alternating full-day model with two separate cohorts was discussed. We moved away from the full-day approach because students wouldn't be on campus every day, would need to have lunch on campus, and would interact with more students in a day with the traditional 9 period schedule.

What are students expected to do during free periods? Where should they go? Why are these periods still part of their schedule?

Students will be able to access the library as well as the cafeteria for use during free periods. In addition, students might use that time to meet with their counselor or teachers. There are academic classes scheduled during every period of the day; while one student may have a "free," many other students will be in a class.

Can students of any age leave campus during free periods?

With permission from a parent/guardian, students will be permitted to leave campus during a free period, provided they follow the school's sign-out procedures.

Specials:

Are Band, Chorus, and Orchestra able to happen?

Yes. Students will be required to sit 12 feet apart. Teachers will be creating opportunities for students to meet and practice during free periods.

How will physical education occur?

Physical education will occur outdoors when weather permits. When inside, students will participate in non-physical learning activities.

How will art classes occur?

Art classes will meet either 2 or 3 out of 6 days in the cycle.

Technology:

Will all classes be live-streamed for students at home?

Live stream is an option for synchronous instruction that can be used when teachers feel this is the best option to support students.

How much control will teachers have over the form of eLearning in their individual classes?

Teachers will be designing learning experiences to maximize student growth. Each learning activity may be differentiated to ensure this.

Testing:

Will Regents exams be given this year?

Regents examinations for 2020 were cancelled. We have not yet received guidance on examinations for 2021.

Are there any alterations to the AP curriculums or exams?

The College Board has not yet released information or guidance about the 2021 AP exams.

Extracurriculars:

Will there be after school clubs?

We expect to offer opportunities for school clubs to meet this year. School clubs may meet in person and virtually. When meeting in-person, club members will need to follow social distancing expectations.

What is happening with fall sports?

The beginning of fall sports has been delayed to September 21.

Will programs like Chamber Choir, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Band, etc. still be able to happen?

Yes, though students will need to meet in much smaller groups to adhere to the 12 feet of separation guidelines provided by the state.

Will there be theater productions this year?

We are hopeful that there will be theater productions this year. Details will be forthcoming.