Clarkstown Schools Grapple With Post-Coronavirus Return Plans

CLARKSTOWN, NY — Clarkstown school district officials told parents Wednesday about their plans to invite students back for in-person instruction starting April 7 — with two possible approaches and a lot of factors to be considered.

"The essential question remains the same," Superintendent Martin Cox said at the beginning of the Board of Education's meeting March 4. "How will the Clarkstown school district ensure student learning as well as health and safety for students and staff?"

Get an idea of how complicated the issues are by watching the board meeting.

First, reopening depends on Rockland County's coronavirus infection rates and positive cases in the schools. The district has recently been notified of more positive tests of students, and transmission among students playing sports is also a concern, Cox said in his letter to parents.

Second, because bringing all kids back would necessitate having some seating less than 6 feet of social distancing, barriers and/or face shields are an essential part of the discussion, and administrators expanded on that during the board workshop.

School officials across the Hudson Valley have been frustrated by the lack of specific guidelines from the New York State Department of Health, particularly about what are "appropriate barriers," Cox said.

District administrators are considering two approaches for K-5 return to school on April 7. A decision will be made on March 26 regarding which option will be implemented.

Option A:

• All K-5 students who wish to attend in person each day will be invited to attend school beginning April 7 with classroom desks configured with less than 6-feet social distancing.
• K-5 students attending on April 7 will be in classrooms set up with less than 6-feet social distancing and desk barriers will be placed on each desks.

If that is not possible due to high infection rates in the county and a significant number of positive cases in schools:

Option B:

• K-5 students would attend on April 7 in an AB Hybrid model based on recent survey data which is currently being analyzed and organized.
• Students will return in an AB hybrid model, with 6-feet social distancing.
• Principals will communicate with parents about this Hybrid model by March 26. All parents will be informed of their assigned cohort and if their child can attend five days.

Early data analysis showed more parents desire to have their children attend in person than the last marking period, officials said. The survey results will determine if students can attend five days as determined by the revised criteria sheet attached here.

The phased-in return for students in grades 6-8 and 9-12 students will be firmed up in mid-April.

The district's guiding principle remains to increase the number of days students come to school while maintaining the instructional model for students who continue to be fully remote, officials said.

The school board had asked for a space utilization study, looking at places where schools could be modified to bring students back with required social distancing guidelines. In addition, building staff did some re-measuring and looked at ways to move furniture around. It had to be a room-by-room-by-room assessment, district officials said.

The district already began phasing in a return to classrooms for kindergarten and first-grade students, which has varied from school to school. Some parents were upset that their kids weren't chosen in the first wave; Cox told school board members he had talked with many of them. The district has 1,001 K-1 pupils, and 74 percent were attending school while 199 children were still receiving hybrid instruction as of March 8.

Clarkstown already took one big step to prevent virus transmission: classrooms, libraries etc. have been outfitted with HEPA air purifiers. The school board approved the $600,000 expense and they were installed in the summer.