4-Days a Week In-person Learning 4/19/21
Posted on 04/12/2021
Dear Parents and Guardians:

OCSD K-12 will be changing to “four” days a week in-person learning.
Wednesday will remain as a virtual learning day for all students to provide time for teachers to meet virtually with learners, have office hours, and allow us to deep clean classrooms. Students that are currently virtual and have confirmed they are staying virtual for the remainder of the school year, will continue to receive instruction.

Learning models to be selected with no changes moving forward
Please note, due to space requirements and the preparation we have undergone to ensure social distancing guidelines are followed, students may not move back and forth between in- person and virtual learning models for the remainder of the year. Parents should notify principals by Monday, March 29 to finalize their child’s learning model. Students who are quarantined due to Covid -19 will move to virtual learning until they are released to come back to school by DOH.

Barriers
We cannot begin the four -day a week in- person learning model prior to April 19th since the needed barriers for desks and tables arrive Friday, April 9th. Our maintenance team will put over 800 barriers in place the week of April 12th. (If there is a delay in shipment, we may have to push our opening date out. We are hopeful all will go as planned.)

Over the April break we will be working on moving furniture in place and preparing classrooms. Our custodians and cleaners will be attending a refresher training on cleaning for Covid-19 by the BOCES Safety Office in preparation for your child’s return.

Safety Video
The drama club will be producing a video with tips for students, so they know what to expect upon their return and to help them know how to be safe in the school setting. We encourage you to watch this with your child to assist them with questions they may have.

Face Shields
We will be issuing all students and staff face shields for an extra layer of protection. Shields must be worn on the bus if students are not sitting with family members and cannot be socially distanced. Additional bus runs will be in place to ensure social distancing as well. Students will need to be in assigned seats so we can contact trace if we have a Covid case. I will keep you posted if new information is released on bus guidance by April 19th.

Classroom teachers will assign each student a hook for their shields to be hung up in classrooms Students will put their shields back on at the end of the day to board their bus for home. Everyone in the building must continue to wear masks daily.

We are excited to have students back! I am asking everyone to help us remain open by reinforcing the importance of all safety protocols outlined in our reopening guidance document and this letter.

We have been notified that more information on Prom and Graduation will be out soon.

Thank you in advance for your help and collaboration.

Sincerely,
Dr. Kathleen M. Davis
Interim Superintendent
Oneida City Schools