Update From County Executive Steve Neuhaus - Posted 10/23/2020

Orange County Town-by-Town Map of Positive Cases - Posted 10/23/2020

As of October 23, Tuxedo has 84 Active cases of Covid-19

Click here to visit the Orange County NY Active Covid Cases by Town Website

I hope this letter finds everyone safe, healthy and enjoying the beautiful fall colors. Since remote instruction started, we have experienced a few glitches here and there, but overall we have seen great success with remote teaching and learning. A huge thank you to our teachers, our children, and to you! Parents, we know that COVID-19 and all of the unknowns and changes associated with it have weighed heavy on you. So thank you for doing everything you can to support and facilitate learning from home. Job well done!

The success of the past few months has prepared our children to be ready to pivot from at-home instruction to in-person instruction as we plan for the return to school. As you know, we are obligated to follow the guidance that comes down from Albany (this is my usual disclaimer), and we are finally starting to see guidance that makes sense to school districts. The NYS Education Department and the Department of Health have also gone through the same learning curve as we have, so the change in guidance is much appreciated.

The biggest changes have to do with understanding what our responsibilities are as they relate to handling potential COVID-19 cases as well as further clarification of social distancing guidelines. This clarification has allowed us to fit a few more desks in each room and thus makes it easier to bring the students back in two cohorts as opposed to three. In some cases, depending on the enrollment, we can bring back a few grades without any cohort at all.

If you’ve attended the Return to Learn meetings, you are aware that the Teachers Union came up with a proposal and the administration worked with the Teachers Union to marry the existing plan with the proposal. Some aspects are able to be implemented and some are not. For example, one proposal was to have 1⁄2 day Pre-K and Kindergarten. While this seems logical to get the children in everyday for a few hours, it just isn’t feasible to create two additional bus runs in the middle of the day and create a shortage of staff in the kitchen. Please remember, at the end of the day, our ultimate goal to bring everyone back into a safe and healthy environment.

SCHEDULE

When one cohort is in-person, the opposite cohort will continue as we do today with remote instruction. This means the students at home will be learning (synchronously) simultaneously with the students in the classroom.
Here are grade-level specifics (Remember all Mondays are Asynchronous):

• Pre-K

•  Kindergarten

•  Grade 1

•  Grade 2

•  Grade 3

•  Grade 4

•  Grade 5

• Grade 6

• Grades 7-12

Full-day, 1 Cohort Instruction (In-person Tues-Friday every week) Full-day, 2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson) Full-day, 1 Cohort Instruction (In-person Tues-Friday every week) Full-day, 2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson) Full-day, 1 Cohort Instruction (In-person Tues-Friday every week) Full-day, 2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson) Full-day, 2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson) Full-day, 1 Cohort Instruction (In-person Tues-Friday every week) Full-day, 2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson)

Timeline for students to begin In-Person instruction:

• Friday,

• Tuesday,

•  Tuesday,

October 23rd – Pre-K Welcome Back October 27th – Kindergarten Welcome Back October 27th – Pre-K Starts

1 Cohort Instruction (In-person Tues-Friday every week) Wednesday, October 28th – Kindergarten Starts

2 Cohort Instruction - Cohort A (gray), Cohort B (crimson)

• Tuesday,

• Tuesday,

• Wednesday,

•  Thursday,
• Tuesday,

  CALENDAR

November 3rd – Grades 1-6, Cohort A (gray) begins in-person November 10th – Last day of 100% remote instruction for Gr. 7-12 November 11th – Veterans Day – No school or remote instruction November 12th – Grades 7-12, Cohort A (gray) begins in-person November 17th – Grades 7-12, Cohort B (crimson) begins in-person

Please see the attached calendar outlining Cohort A (gray) and Cohort B (crimson) for the remainder of the year. Asynchronous days have been shaded blue. Holidays and vacation days are shaded in dark purple.

Please NOTE: On November 3rd, grades 1-5 at GGM and grade 6 at GFB will start in- person instruction. Grades 7 and 8 will start on November 12th along with grades 9-12. This change has to do with the difference of how students are scheduled at the elementary (K-6) and secondary (7-12) levels.

Please NOTE: The week of January 26-29 is Regents/Mid-Terms week. This week will be divided into two days for each cohort as indicated on the calendar.

UPCOMING COMMUNICATION
OPT-IN to 100% REMOTE INSTRUCTION

• Below is a link to a Google form that will allow you to “Opt-In” to 100% Remote Instruction through January 29th (can be extended at this time). If this is something you would like, please complete the form as soon as possible. The deadline for completion is Monday, October 26th at 1:00PM.

• If you do not wish to take part, no further action is necessary. GOOGLE FORM

OPT-OUT of DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION

•  Included in the above mentioned Google form, you will also have the option to “Opt OUT of District Transportation” through January 29th (can be extended at this time). If this is something you would like, please complete the form as soon as possible. The deadline for completion is Monday, October 26th at 1:00PM.

• If you do not wish to take part, no further action is necessary.

  COHORT DESIGNATION

•  By the end of this week, you will receive information letting you know which cohort (A or B) your children will be assigned to.

•  Please know that even if you Opt-IN to 100% Remote Instruction, your children will still be assigned a cohort. Should you decide to not continue with 100% Remote Instruction, the cohort will have already been identified.

  SNOW DAY, ONLINE LEARNING DAY, and ASYNCHRONOUS LEARNING DAY

• Snow days! It’s that time of year, but we have a twist this year. Instead of a “snow day” it may become an “online-learning day”.

• For example, the roads may prevent school from opening, but students can easily log-on and attend school just as they are doing today. So this would be deemed an “Online Learning Day” and count as a regular school day. However, a big storm might bring down power lines and that could cause school to completely close and we would call for a “snow day” with NO online expectation. This would then become one of our snow days. NYS Education Department is allowing this to be a pilot year for snow days, so more to come on this as well.

•  This should not be confused with an “Asynchronous Learning Day”. Every Monday is an Asynchronous Learning Day, where students have been assigned work to complete at their own pace while at home. Wednesday, November 25th (Day before Thanksgiving) and Friday May 20th (Day before Memorial Day Weekend) have already been designated Asynchronous Days.

  Class of 2021 SENIOR SPOTS

The Class of 2021 will be the first senior class to be able to personalize and paint their parking spots. Even if they don’t have a car, they get to paint a spot that belongs to them. So watch for the “Senior Spots” to show up in the lower lot this week.

MUSIC LEAVE REPLACEMENT

As you may be aware, Ms. Kurian has been out on maternity leave and will not return until September 2021. We have interviewed many applicants and for various reasons they have either resigned after appointment (before starting) or declined the position after being interviewed. We have now posted the position again and hope to find a suitable candidate soon. In the meantime, once students return, we will have to put a substitute teacher into the class until a leave-replacement teacher is identified and hired. Our music program is extremely important and we want only the best for our students. We will keep you posted.

The health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff continues to be our number one priority. Our efforts to return to in-person instruction represent our commitment to ensuring a healthy and safe teaching and learning environment.

Thank you and be safe!

Timothy Bohlke

Superintendent of Schools