The Saratoga Springs City School District is continuing to prepare for the reopening of our schools with the wellbeing of our students, teachers, staff, and the community at the forefront of all our discussions. This week, Governor Cuomo announced that he will make a decision on whether or not to reopen schools by early August. The Governor indicated that the state will release reopening guidance for all school districts on Monday, July 13, and that school districts will need to submit their reopening plans by Friday, July 31.
Our District-wide Steering Committee and Advisory Teams, composed of over 100 members of our school community, have been meeting weekly since mid-June to discuss and plan for multiple school re-opening scenarios as we await guidance from New York State. Each team focused on three potential reopening scenarios:
- Modified In-Person Instruction – schools would reopen with comprehensive health and safety requirements including social distancing, use of face masks, cleaning protocols, and adjustments to transportation and food services.
- Hybrid/Blended Model – district would deploy a hybrid approach to teaching and learning with some students in-person and some at home on a rotating schedule.
- Online Learning – due to ongoing public health concerns, students would continue to learn remotely.
The District-wide Steering Committee has gathered feedback from parents who work in higher education, international business, public health, and more to learn from their experiences and help guide our conversations about reopening schools. Our District is fortunate to have school community members serving on our advisory and steering committees that have extensive knowledge and professional experience in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee has also reviewed the feedback from each of the four advisory teams to help inform our overall reopening plans.
The Instructional Advisory Team has reviewed feedback from the school closure in mid-March and the quick shift to mandatory remote learning. The team has analyzed teacher, parent, student, and administrator remote learning survey results. The team also researched other state’s reopening plans and compiled best practices in online teaching and learning and utilization of instructional technology. The team is reviewing all of the instructional models and plans to examine sample schedules for all three scenarios.
The Operations Advisory Team has reviewed research including other state’s reopening plans, CDC cleaning and maintenance guidelines, and food services and transportation procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Personnel/Financial Advisory Team has discussed budgetary and staffing implications, additional supplies/equipment/PPE that may need to be purchased, and how staff would be allocated to best support the needs of our students in all three reopening scenarios.
The Communications Advisory Team has discussed what communication tools the District uses, reviewed stats related to each tool, and shared best practices and suggestions for how these tools could be enhanced. The team also discussed opportunities for accepting input on school reopening strategies from all school community members as well as strategies for communicating the reopening plan to all school stakeholders.
We realize that our students, staff, and families want details and we will continue to provide updates as we have definitive information. In the meantime, we invite you to share input on reopening strategies though the Reopening Schools Input Form [form has been archived]. Input will be shared with the chairs of the appropriate advisory team, but we will not respond to all messages individually.
You can also stay updated on the work of the steering committee and advisory teams by visiting www.saratogaschools.org/reopening/ [link has been archived] throughout the summer.