Reopening Our Schools
Timeline
- Week of July 13: Districts across New York receive guidance from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the New York State Department of Health.
- Week of July 27: School district will hold Town Hall meetings to present plans and answer questions. View a recording of the Thursday, July 30 Virtual Town Hall here.
- July 31: School districts must submit reopening plans to NYSED. Read about the district’s submitting its plans here.
- First week of August: NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo makes decision about school opening.
Reopening Committee
In order to develop the required plans for the state and to establish policies and procedures for reopening, the district has established a SGF Reopening Committee and five subcommittees.
The SGF Reopening Committee will be reviewing transportation, food service, overall health/safety and cleaning procedures, as well as the recommendations of the subcommittees. This group will review all federal, state and local guidance that is issued related to reopening schools.
The SGF Reopening Committee and the five subcommittees will meet throughout July. The subcommittees include:
- Elementary Teaching and Learning
- Secondary Teaching and Learning
- Social-Emotional Learning
- Special Education
- Athletics/Extracurricular
The committee’s conversations began with survey data from South Glens Falls families and faculty/staff. Families were recently asked to consider health and safety, student social-emotional health and comfort level with a few different learning scenarios. More than 1,260 responses to the survey were recorded.
Survey Responses
About 82% of respondents indicated that they strongly agree or agree that “if school is open in the fall, I am likely to send [my child] to school.”
However, at the same time, about 63% of respondents indicated they strongly agree or agree that they are concerned about their child(ren)’s health and safety upon returning to school. While a majority of respondents (67%), said they agree or strongly agree that the district will be able to meet the health and safety requirements to keep children safe, others (46%) said they disagree or strongly disagree that students will be able to “maintain new restrictions such as social distancing, avoiding congregating in groups, avoiding physical contact with peers, and other safety protocols.”
View a chart of all survey data here.
Communications
The South Glens Falls CSD will be communicating with families through email and the website as reopening plans are finalized. Some information may be shared on social media as well. The district recommends that families continue to check the district website and your email throughout the summer for information.
