Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Andy Gardner

FORT COVINGTON. Salmon River Central School will delay the start of in-person classes due to a staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

SRCS Superintendent Dr. Stanley Harper made the announcement in a Friday, Aug. 28 letter.

“As you are aware on Wednesday, we were notified that one of our employees tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, there have been a significant number of our staff that have since been quarantined,” Harper wrote. “In light of the events of this past week we have taken a closer look at our re-opening plan in order to ensure we have a safe reopening of our school. While I would prefer to reopen in person, I recognize that people have legitimate fears, and I want to provide additional time to help ease those fears and make reopening for in person instructional as successful and safe as possible.”

In-person instruction at Salmon will now start Sept. 21. All students will receive full remote instruction from Sept. 8 through 18. Staff will report to work and provide remote instruction to students from their classrooms. Students and families will be receiving additional information about remote instruction, iPad and Chromebook distribution, and materials from their principal, as soon as possible, Dr. Harper said.

The superintendent’s letter in full:

Dear Salmon River Parents, Students, Staff and Community,

This year has been challenging both mentally and physically for all of us as we navigate through this COVID-19 pandemic, especially these last few months as we have been planning to re-open school and determining how that will look. On July 31st, we released our re-opening plan which was the result of months of planning and a lot of hard work from our dedicated team. Under the direction of the Governor and NYSED, schools are required to “...prioritize efforts to return all students to in-person instruction...” (NYSED, 2020). However, NY State realizes that local conditions may not be conducive to providing in-person instruction completely, so the district must provide in-person instruction as fully as possible.

Based on the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NYS Department of Health (DOH) and the NYS Education Department (NYSED) as well as consultation with the Franklin County Department of Public Health our planning so that employees, students, and families feel safe upon returning to the school district was to start school with in-person, hybrid instruction and remote instruction on September 8, 2020 with all safety precautions in place.

As you are aware on Wednesday, we were notified that one of our employees tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, there have been a significant number of our staff that have since been quarantined.

In light of the events of this past week we have taken a closer look at our re-opening plan in order to ensure we have a safe reopening of our school. While I would prefer to reopen in person, I recognize that people have legitimate fears, and I want to provide additional time to help ease those fears and make reopening for in-person instruction as successful and safe as possible.

Therefore, we will delay the start of in-person instruction until September 21, 2020. All students will receive full remote instruction from September 8, 2020 through September 18, 2020. Staff will report to work and provide remote instruction to students from their classrooms. Students and families will be receiving additional information about remote instruction, iPads and Chromebook distribution, and materials from their Principal, as soon as possible.

In these challenging times, rest assured that the District’s priority is protecting the health, welfare, and safety of students and staff while complying with any government orders and guidance related to the opening of schools.

I appreciate your understanding of the situation.

Sincerely,

Dr. Stanley Harper