Update from NCS

April 11, 2021

Dear NCS Family,

Friday evening, the NYS Department of Health released updated guidance (click here) for schools related to in-person instruction. The information is largely based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and it allows schools to relax social distancing guidelines from six to three feet as long as buildings are located in counties with low, moderate, or substantial risks of transmission.

Because close to 95% of our Elementary School students are already back to in-person learning five days per week, the change will not have much of an impact on our youngest learners. At the secondary level, the new social distancing guidelines should give us the ability to increase the number of students we have attending in-person classes each day.

However, before making any final changes, schools are required to provide opportunities for feedback from parents, community members, teachers, staff, and local departments of health. At this point, we plan on meeting with representatives from Ontario County on Monday morning, and then having our District Safety Team review the potential changes later on in the afternoon. As long as we can answer a handful of key questions in the next couple days, we anticipate using the following to communicate next steps:

• Provide a written update to parents, staff, and students by Wednesday evening using email, Facebook, and Twitter
• Provide an opportunity for staff feedback during a 2:30 Zoom meeting on Wednesday
• Provide an opportunity for parent feedback during a 6:30 Zoom meeting on Thursday. (Zoom link to be emailed out on Wednesday evening with the written update)

The guidance released on Friday was good news for schools. We are committed to making sure our students are safe, connected, and learning here at NCS, and we will be reaching out with more detail in the coming days.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Matt