Tupper schools hold parent forum on reopening plan

By Rich Rosentreter

The Tupper Lake Central School District gave parents an opportunity to learn more about its reopening plan during a forum held online last week. The plan was first released last month on the school district’s Facebook page.

One key aspect of the plan is that the school year is now slated to begin Tuesday, Sept. 8, a day after the Labor Day holiday. It had been scheduled to begin Sept. 3.

The reopening plan calls for grades kindergarten through 6th grade meeting in-person four days a week and grades 7 through 12 being broken into groups and meeting in-person on alternating days. Also, in the event of any reports of COVID-19 within the school, officials are prepared to halt in-person classes to allow for tracing and proper disinfecting cleaning of the school buildings. Such a decision would be made by the Department of Health and not the district, according to the school’s Superintendent Russ Bartlett. He added that in the event of a positive coronavirus test, a tracing will be enacted to determine who else may have had contact with that particular child or children.

Another component of the plan is that the civic center will be utilized to teach Pre-K students who will be meeting in the upper mezzanine area.

In regard to BOCES, the district plans to bus students to classes in Saranac Lake – stressing that those students will be safe from contracting the virus due to limited class sizes and larger rooms.

As far as health and safety actions, all students and school staff will be required to wear masks and provide a daily health screening along with parents or guardians being responsible for “submitting an electronic or paper verification form indicating that they have followed the guidelines for health screening before sending their children to school each day.”

According to Mr. Bartlett, the district has more than 17,000 disposable masks – amounting to a supply for about 90 days – and students will also receive two masks bearing the Tupper Lake school logo. There will also be designated areas where students can take a break from wearing their masks, he added.

Both staff and students will have to maintain appropriate social distancing on buses, in common areas and any time not seated in a classroom. Training will take place ofter regarding proper hand washing and respiratory hygiene procedures, along with reminders of the policy when required.

According to the plan, middle/high school students will be in class two days a week – either the first two or last two days of the week - and perform online studies the other two. Elementary school students will be in class each weekday except Wednesdays, which will be reserved for “office hours, parent conferencing, professional development, planning, remote academic intervention and cleaning” for both schools.

The complete plan is available for viewing on the district’s website.

One thing that has been stressed for the reopening of the schools is the in-person classes for the district’s youngest students. Mr. Bartlett said that if a student experiences deficits in education prior to reaching the fourth grade, the impact could be “permanent,” and from grades four to six, the social and emotional aspects of school are vital for a student’s continued growth.

The school reopening plan also encourages parents to “transport their children to and from school if possible in order to relieve bus congestion and provide room for social distancing. Bus routes will be developed to minimize congestion.” Students and staff will be required to wear masks or face coverings at all times on the bus and seats will be assigned on each bus in order to minimize contact and provide for appropriate social distancing.

As far as sports and other extracurricular activities, there will be none to start the year, but fall sports are currently scheduled to begin on September 21.

The goal of the reopening plan is to “safeguard the health and safety of our students, staff and community,” Mr. Bartlett wrote when the plan was released on the district’s social media page.