The Process Begins...

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Late last week, Governor Cuomo provided some information that school districts across New York State can finally have some semblance of an idea of what to expect. During the month of June, we will be provided with guidance on what a re-opening plan must entail. In July, districts must submit plans to the State outlining and detailing our re-opening process. Finally, in August, the State will work with districts to make sure these plans are approved. What remains to be seen in all of this is the level of financial support that school districts can anticipate through state aid once we reach the second look-back stage of the Governor's budget. Internally, we have developed two committees to review the essential needs of operating a school with social distancing requirements and the safety protocols that we have all been living under. One of our committees is discussing and recommending changes needed to facilities and physical spaces, while the other is looking at instruction, curriculum, and scheduling requirements. In combination with these items, the district will be conducting a community ThoughtExchange during the month of June to learn more about what concerns parents and students may have regarding both the process and the physical action of re-opening our schools. During the entire closure process, there has been much dialogue between school officials, school staff, community members, and students that bring about good ideas on how to accomplish something that none of us have been prepared for. Collaboration will continue to be important as schools work to re-open in the fall. The most important take away through all of this is something that we have already known, but education has tended to fight against. It's the fact that all students learn differently and that all students need individualized instruction. There is no one system (in-person, virtual, large group, small group, etc.) that is a blanket process for everyone. As schools work to re-imagine themselves when we do re-open, hopefully this concept will be more prevalent throughout the educational community.

Ballot Update


As reported on Friday, there has been a delay in the delivery of our ballots this week due to a shortage of necessary envelopes to get the ballots out. The district business office worked most of the day on Saturday with the company handling the mailing to determine when we can expect delivery. We are told by the company that our ballots will be in the mail no later than Monday, June 1. If we receive any further information on the ballots that is different than this, we will provide another update. 

2020-2021 Budget Hearing
The 2020-2021 proposed budget hearing will take place virtually on Monday, June 1, 2020, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The budget hearing is a legally required presentation of the adopted budget by the Board of Education, which means the development process is complete. For that reason, there will not be a Question and Answer portion to this presentation, however, if someone has a question regarding the proposed budget, we ask that you please email your question to asktheboe@romecsd.org. All of the budget information is on our budget webpage at: https://romecsd.org/district/business___finance/budget/2020-21_budget including a video of the entire budget presentation and the slides that are used in the presentation. To view the budget hearing, you can watch via Zoom at: https://E2CCB-GST.zoom.us/j/95621840516 or you can watch on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8BoYZyGLUorkU1Ec_YP20w


Kindergarten / Pre-K Registration


The Rome City School District will be resuming the kindergarten/pre-K registration process beginning on June 15, 2020. There will be an online method and an in-person (by appointment only) option for families to register. We are going to promote a registration window of June 15 to June 30. Please be aware that the Board of Education recently adopted a new policy regarding the documentation necessary for registration. More information about what is required for registration can be found on our website here: https://www.romecsd.org/parents/student_registration 

RFA Spirit Day


The RFA senior class is promoting a spirit day to be held on Friday, June 26, 2020 (their normal graduation rehearsal day). Their plan is to have students and community members order shirts before June 12, 2020 and then submit a selfie of themselves in the shirt for the virtual spirit day. For anyone interested in participating, the link to order the shirt is: https://kandkgraphicsco.com/collections/rfa-seniors/products/rfa-knights-strong-t-shirt

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