Dear Tiger Community,
All year long, our goal has been to bring all of our students safely back into our buildings to learn full-time. We know that our students learn better when they are in front of our staff members.
The biggest obstacle for our district is space to safely implement NYS and CDC requirements that mandate our students must remain six feet apart.
Over the past few months, we have seen changes in the science of managing COVID. We have watched cases of COVID-19 remain stable in Washington County, as the number of vaccinated people has risen. In March, the CDC revised its physical distancing recommendations to reflect at least three feet between students in classrooms.
And just recently The New York State Department of Health has followed suit, telling districts among other things, they may reduce physical distancing requirements to a minimum of three feet between students in classroom settings upon the fulfillment of specific guidelines.
We are still not able to implement a 5-day in person instruction plan until the level of community COVID transmission enters a moderate safety zone as defined by the CDC. However, as we await for these caseload numbers to decline we want to share our reentry plan and be prepared for a possible transition to 5-day in person instruction.
Here’s what will form the backbone of those plans:
- Students will continue to wear masks 100% of the time they are in our buildings and buses;
- Classrooms will move to three feet of space between students;
- Music, cafeteria, and adult lunch and planning rooms will remain at a six-foot distance;
- We will keep windows open in our classrooms and buses;
- We will limit school visitors;
- We will communicate bus route changes;
- We will continue testing for athletes and prior to prom.
We understand that this may seem like a lot of information to take in. So we are also creating an easy-to-read plan that will outline all of our new guidelines. We will post this information on our website no later than May 5.
We will also hold a virtual community forum meeting this Thursday, April 29 at 3 pm. The event will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. Anyone with questions may submit them by replying to this email and sending a message to questions@hfcsd.org. We will do our best to address everyone’s concerns.
Though we must be patient and wait for the county transmission rate to decline we can finalize and communicate plans that will enable our students to re-enter our classrooms once again. We thank you for your continued partnership this year.
Sincerely,
Jon Hunter, Interim Superintendent