Stepping Forward...
By now, most should have heard that with the developing situation at Staley elementary school, we have made the decision to move forward without occupying the school for student use this school year. During the last week, all Staley students have been reassigned to other schools in the district, throughout the weekend crews have worked non-stop to move furniture so schools have what they need, and transportation routes have been redeveloped so that we can communicate the information home as soon as possible. Every member of our team has been instrumental in making this transition work in a time when no one wanted or needed additional stress. Also as a result of this decision, the Rome City School District has delayed the start of the school year by one week, with classes beginning on Monday, September 13 for students. There are a few BOCES programs and Supported Learning programs that will begin earlier, and grades 7, 9, and 10 will have a stand-alone day on Monday to get acclimated to their buildings without a full complement of students. Individual schools and programs will be communicating that information home to families and students.
On the COVID front, the New York State Department of Health has issued official school opening guidelines late last week and the district will work to summarize the information for families so that there is a good understanding of the circumstances with which we are all working with this year. A full copy of the NYSDOH guidelines can be found here: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/09/school-guidance.pdf. Another new bit of information that is important for the school district to work with is the vaccination status of employees and students. An individual's vaccination status may preclude them from quarantining due to exposure. We will be asking students and staff to share their vaccination status so that in the event of an exposure, we can work to help an individual not need to quarantine. Weekly testing will also be required for any unvaccinated employee, however, details on that process/requirement have not been made readily available to schools at this time.
Obviously, this is not the way that anybody envisioned the start of this school year when we were celebrating the Class of 2021 in June. Students, parents, and staff alike are all at the end of their rope in regard to stress tolerance and bad news. Throughout the last year and a half though there has been one constant in our community and that is support for each other in an effort to ensure our kids can be in school and so that we can do whatever possible to keep schools open for in-person learning. I am hopeful that this is the end of the requirements and guidelines and we can now focus on learning and fun, which is essentially what our children want. Thank you all for your continued focus and effort to be positive and working one step at a time to move forward. Together, we will make this year a success for all members of our school community, no matter how scary that next step seems!
Rite Aid COVID Testing Program
Transportation Update
In the coming days, all transportation information and routes will be complete and communicated through all of the online methods we have available. Currently, secondary routes and information are on our website. If your student does not plan on riding a bus this year, please contact our transportation office so that we can make adjustments to our routes. This information can help to reduce rider time on the busses to and from school. For more details on the transportation department, please visit our website at https://www.romecsd.org/news_page/bus_transportation_information.
Open House Information
With the delay of the start of the school year, elementary open houses will all occur on the same day this week. All six elementary schools have chosen to hold their open house on Thursday, September 9. Times may vary between buildings, so if you have not received information on this topic yet, please contact your child's school. Staff is still available at Staley for families who are familiar with the administration and clerical staff there. Phones will continue to operate to assist families with questions through at least this month.
Student Immunizations (non-COVID)
As a reminder, New York State has passed a law that no longer allows for the religious exemption for school vaccinations. Also, all laws that are applicable to school-related required vaccines are back in effect for the 2021-2022 school year. 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
Parent Square
ParentSquare is here!! On July 1, 2021 the Rome City School District shifted to a communication platform called ParentSquare as our mode of push communication to families and staff, replacing our old system, SchoolMessenger. ParentSquare has many more options, including two-way opportunities for families to communicate with schools and teachers. ParentSquare also has many teacher resources for easily communicating with parents and students, that we will begin rolling out in the coming months. You should have received an email with an invitation to ParentSquare last spring. It is essential that you activate your account and adjust your settings to your preferred modes of communication and times. For more information, including resources for how to activate your account and how to use Parent Square, please visit our website at
