Schools

Schools prepared to reopen amid pandemic

By Melissa Koenig

Sewanhaka, Franklin Square and Elmont school officials spent the summer developing plans to return to school for the 2020- 21 school year, and submitted their proposals to the State Education Department in August.

Under Sewanhaka’s proposal, half of the district’s more than 8,000 students were to learn in school one day and remotely the next, while the other half were to do the opposite.

“With the size of our school populations, we can’t fit everyone into school every day,” Superintendent James Grossane said in a video posted on the district’s website, explaining that classrooms could only accommodate a maximum of 15 students with social-distancing measures in place.

Any student enrolled in the Life Skills or specialeducation programs could attend school in person every day, and any parent who did not feel comfortable sending their child to school could opt for a full remote learning program.

Students in Elmont were also to learn in school and online. The kindergartners through thirdgrade students were to attend school on Mondays through Wednesdays, under the district’s proposal, and fourth- through sixth-graders were to attend class in person on Thursdays and Fridays. On days they were not in school, they were to learn remotely.

Classes were to be divided into two cohorts, with classroom teachers and special-area teachers alternating between the two groups.

Pre-school students and those in self-contained special-education classes were to attend school in person every day, and any parent who did not want to send their child to school was able to fill out a form enrolling the student in a full virtual program that “would mirror” the work being done in school, according to Superintendent Kenneth Rosner.

The Franklin Square School District, meanwhile, proposed a full return to school with a virtual learning option for kindergartners through sixth-graders, and a hybrid program for preschool students.

The preschoolers were to be assigned to one of two groups, each comprising nine students, and they were to attend school in person twice a week. When they were not in school, they were to be as signed activities to complete, and one day a week was to be virtual for all preschool students.

All parents and guardians were required to complete a questionnaire every morning ensuring that their child did not have any Covid-19 symptoms, and every student and staff member was required to undergo daily temperature checks. No one was allowed inside the school buildings with a temperature higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Anyone who did not feel comfortable sending their child back to school in Franklin Square could also sign up for virtual learning.