Averill Park CSD Community,
With the holiday recess coming to an end this weekend, we want to let our community know that as of now our plan is to have our students return to in-person learning on Monday, January 4, with grades K-5 being fully in-person and grades 6-12 in a hybrid format. We will continue to monitor the data for our schools and make any adjustments as necessary.
Throughout the break, we have been monitoring the pandemic and have been in contact with the Rensselaer County Department of Health, other schools in our BOCES, and school districts in the Capital Region, regarding our ability to reopen schools safely. While we understand the rationale for staying remote, we feel that keeping our students learning in an in-person environment is very important and, as long as we can continue to provide in-person instruction in a safe manner, we will continue to do so.
In the new year, our District will continue daily health screening, temperature checks, mask wearing, social distancing and health hygiene. Recently, the CDC changed quarantine protocols which will help to alleviate the stress that this places on our staffing. This change has been adopted by NYS and Averill Park CSD will adopt it as well.
While the metrics for our area entering one of the Governor’s “micro-clusters” are complicated, we must be prepared for this to happen as infection rates continue to rise state-wide. If our District enters into a Yellow Zone, a percentage of our students and staff must be randomly tested for COVID-19 in order for Averill Park CSD to remain open. If this happens, we will notify our school community as soon as possible. Based on extensive planning and preparation, we are confident that our District will be prepared to successfully implement the required testing.
Please enjoy the rest of the holiday break. We look forward to the start of the new year and all that 2021 has in store.
Sincerely,
Dr. James Franchini
Superintendent of Schools