Forward March...
Week one is in the books, and there is much to celebrate, as well as, much to improve upon. As always, everyone can always improve and grow on our pursuit to perfection and being the best; but all things considered the week went well and I can't thank our teachers, administrators, parents, support staff, and students for the amazing effort put in this week.There is no doubt that remote learning can be a challenging endeavor as it requires teachers to redesign their mentality and practice, requires students to be more independent than traditional learning, and requires parents to be more active than we are used to. All of this occurring at a time when stress and frustration is at an all time high, and patience for returning to normal is at an all time low. As we move forward, we are closely monitoring school situations throughout the State and different locations are starting to see positive virus cases in their schools. At this point in time, if things continue to trend in a safe way (as they have been in recent weeks) and there is some easement on the restrictions related to social distancing (specifically on transportation), we will look to bring our youngest learners back to school earlier than the six-week period. There is still conflicting opinion on whether or not students must socially distance in school at all times if they are wearing a mask, and getting a true direction on that question has become almost impossible. Many schools are requiring masks at all times so that more students can attend, if they desire. Please stay tuned for more updates on when we expect students to begin returning to school. Also worth noting is the recent lawsuit by NYSUT against the Governor's office which for the time being, has halted the withholding of school aid during the month of September. While on the surface this seems like a great thing and I thank the teacher's union statewide for taking this drastic measure, what is being said publicly about school aid and what is really happening are not exactly in harmony. While the Governor has said he would not be withholding 20% of school aid funding in September 2020, he would not commit to providing schools with the funding they need for the year. In a more upsetting way, the State has already withheld approximately $1.84 million of money from last school year that we were not anticipating to be withheld. This information is not being mentioned anywhere. In some cases, the percentage of money withheld from the Spring is much more than 20%. This is all worth noting and keeping in the back of your. mind as we move forward because there is no doubt that school finances throughout New York State are going to be a major concern throughout the entire year. We have already begun the discussions at the Board level about the 2021-2022 budget, several months before normal. Regardless of what else happens this year, it is apparent that with every success a challenge lies around the corner awaiting to make the next step forward a difficult one. In the face of all of this adversity though, our staff, students, and families are ready for the challenge. As with the collaboration and teamwork of the first week; our school community is growing closer and stronger by the day. Supporting each other every day as we are all learning new ways to educate our kids is more essential than ever before. If we can continue to focus on redefining education for the future, we will march forward as the leaders in what public education should be for students in the 21st century.
Athletics Update
As you may know, the NYSPHAA approved the start of Fall athletics as of Monday, September 21. Subsequently, Section III athletics canceled football, volleyball, and cheer for this Fall and have moved it to a condensed season in the Spring, nicknamed "Fall 2". In Rome, we are delaying the start of Fall sports until Monday, September 28, at the earliest. This provides the Board of Education the opportunity to appoint coaches and discuss the season. Like everything else related to schools reopening in the COVID-19 cloud, athletics will look very different and will not be anything like student athletes and families expect/envision due to the restrictions placed on programs. Also, it is a real and distinct possibility that all of the schools we compete against will have postponed their seasons, making it difficult to have a season within the guidelines of NYSPHAA. It is necessary to note that we have not seen anything that would preclude us from having both a regular Fall season (even if just for practice) and then also participating in the Fall 2 season (for competition).
STAR Screening (gr. 1-3)
As a reminder, students in grades 1-3 will begin STAR screenings this week. STAR screening will assist the schools and teachers in measuring where a student stands related to ELA and math. This process will assist the teachers in knowing which supports a student may need, as a result of the spring closure and summer. Grade 1 screenings will be the week of September 21, grade 2 the week of September 28, and grade 3 the week of October 5. More information related to STAR screening and the detailed scheduled of screenings will be communicated to students and families through each building and teacher.
Student Immunizations
This is the last week that students will be eligible for school without the proper immunizations. As a reminder, New York State has passed a law that no longer allows for the religious exemption for school vaccinations. Also, although we are opening remotely for most students, all laws that are applicable to school related required vaccines are still in effect. While some health related requirements for public school attendance have been modified or relived for the 2020-2021 school year, mandatory vaccinations have not. The link below will take you to the State Education Department website that outlines the required vaccinations. Please speak to your school nurse or family physician if you have any questions regarding any requirements.
School Immunization Requirements
Student Health Screening
As a reminder, each Monday, we are asking all parents to complete the student health screening to help assist in monitoring any possibility of virus exposure within our school district. The screening is short and is modeled after the daily screening required by all employees and the screening required for visitors. A button for the link is included on our reopening website and a link to the Student Health Screening is here:https://docs.google.com/forms/studenthealth.
Information and Questions
As opening day draws closer, we understand that people will continue to have questions and be in need of information. In recent days, the questions have far outnumbered the time available to respond, however, many questions have already been answered through one document or another. For information on everything related to COVID-19 for the 2020-2021 school year and for reopening schools this Fall, please visit our webpage at www.romecsd.org/reopening. If you do have questions that you cannot seem to find an answer for, we encourage parents and students to either contact the appropriate administrator or send an email to rcsdreopening@romecsd.org.
