What's Next...
As we enter December, there is likely to be a lot of uncertainty and fluctuation in school operations throughout New York State. One thing that we do know for certain is that Governor Cuomo has repeatedly made public comment that one of his top priorities is to keep schools open. Knowing this, it is likely that we will experience changing requirements and circumstances throughout the coming weeks and months. I understand that right now, most people want consistency and predictability; so we will do our best to continue delivering learning in a way that is as consistent as possible and fits within the Governor's (or the New York State Department of Health's) rules and requirements. Another area that we have begun to hear a lot of noise about is bringing kids back into the buildings five days a week. Unfortunately, the reason why students are not in school five days a week is directly related to the COVID restrictions placed on classroom/school occupancy. We cannot have more students in the building than we currently have scheduled and still maintain social distancing. What we do plan to do is review our actual in-person attendance data for the months of November, December and January to determine if the numbers of students actually showing up to school for in-person learning will allow those students to then attend five days a week. It is possible depending on attendance data, however, we are at least two months away from making that transition. In the meantime, we will continue to focus on the hybrid learning model. Some good news is that recent positive cases involving staff and/or students within our schools has not led to school closures as a result and have required minimal quarantining and mostly monitoring for symptoms. This is a sign that people in our school community are doing all they can to remain safe and help others be safe and healthy. In the future, if Rome is to be designated a Yellow Zone under the micro-cluster strategy that our state uses, this means that we would have two weeks to randomly test 20% of our in-person students and staff, only. This would equate to roughly 820 total people that would need to be tested. All individuals tested would need consent and we would most likely test the first 820 volunteers. Once testing is complete, if our district numbers are lower than the regional numbers, schools remain open with no further testing. If they are not lower, then another two-week round of testing begins. Regardless, Yellow Zone testing should be an accomplishable task that we will work with Oneida County on tackling. In the meantime, we all need to continue to do what it is that we have proven to be good at; sticking together, supporting each other, and keeping our focus on helping our children grow and learn. Every day is an opportunity for greatness and another day closer to the end of this unfortunate situation. Keep on keepin' on Rome. What's next will be a product of our ability to work together and be smart in the coming weeks.
Elementary Schedule Reminder
Elementary parent-teacher conferences are scheduled to begin this week on Friday, December 4. For this reason, Friday, December 4, Monday, December 7, and Tuesday, December 8 will all be half day dismissals for elementary schools. More information will be forthcoming from your child's school directly.
School COVID Report Card
As a reminder, the Governor's office and the Department of Health released the New York State School COVID Report Card. The information found on the website is a collaboration of data that is received by the State from the school district and the Oneida County Department of Health. This link will take you to the website with the information for the Rome City School District: https://schoolcovidreportcard.health.ny.gov/#/districtData;bedsCodeId=411800
Great American Rivalry - VOTE
Rome Free Academy football standout Tommy Dunn is one of 144 high school athletes in the United States who has an opportunity to be recognized by the Great American Rivalry Series and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 2020 Great American Rivalry Series Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame Team is now in our hands! NOW is the time for our community to support RFA and Tommy to help him secure a spot on the GARS Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame roster. In the end, 25 students nationally will be recognized. Please vote and vote often in support of our hometown athlete, Tommy Dunn. For more information, including casting a vote, please visit their webpage at: https://greatamericanrivalry.com/2020-scholar-athlete-hall-of-fame-voting/.
NYSDOH COVID Toolkit
As a reminder, I would urge all parents and staff to review the NYSDOH COVID preK-12 toolkit. The information within the document is certainly information that schools have been asking for throughout the re-opening process. The document is extremely detailed and has many easy to read graphics which clearly outline when students and staff should not be attending schools. A complete copy of this document can be found here:
NYSDOH - PreK to Grade 12 COVID-19 Toolkit
