OCSD Board Of Education Reaches Consensus Regarding Reopening Plan

OSWEGO – At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting for the Oswego City School District, the board reached a consensus on the district’s Reopening Plan, allowing the district to move the plan along to the next stages which include posting it and “implementing it with integrity,” as Superintendent Dr. Mathis Calvin III said.

Prior to the Superintendent’s Report, the board heard from the public. The district received 14 messages via write-ins with many parents asking for remote learning as an option. Some do not feel safe as they have immunocompromised family members while others felt their students excelled in a virtual setting.

“Why is there not an option for all virtual, like last year? Both my boys are nervous to go back to in-person [learning] considering the Delta Variant,” Amelia Loomis wrote. “My whole family is vaccinated. My eldest was highest honors all last year … [He] excelled mentally and physically, last year.”

While this was a complaint, the district’s medical advisor, Dr. Robert Morgan, spoke on the importance of returning back to in-person learning for the physical and mental health of the students.

“Last year there were a lot of serious drawbacks to not being in school,” Morgan said. “The mental health of young people was tremendously affected, and even when people tried the best they could to keep food programs going, they were not the same, so nutrition was down.”

During the in-person public comment period, one speaker, Peter Newel, who has a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology and teaches at SUNY Oswego thanked the district for following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding mask wearing.

“I understand the concerns of the families [that want remote learning as an option] but overall studies show there is a big negative impact of online learning to a large number of kids nation-wide,” Newel said. “The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends fully in-person learning, fully masked, so thank you for following the scientific guidelines.”

Some of the other speakers were not so fond of the decision, however, as they opposed masks and the COVID-19 vaccine, the latter of which the district has not required.

Later in the meeting, Calvin discussed the plan’s view of athletics. While the plan can change depending on transmission rates and quarantining, the district will allow all teams to practice and play, including high risk sports like wrestling.  Calvin added that the district will work closely with the Oswego County Department of Health and Morgan to monitor athletes and conduct contact tracing.

Students will be asked to wear masks whenever possible, which includes on bus rides. Jim McKenzie, a board member, questioned the plan as he said it seemed to go against the guidance and plans for the classroom setting.

“What I would hate is that we got to close one of these buildings because of [sports]. Our kids need normalcy in the classroom. Yes, they need sports but you do it in a way that does not impact the number one priority that we have and that’s the five day a week, in-person education,” McKenzie said. “I am not saying I am against [this], but in my conversations out in the public, this is a glaring discrepancy where some people are saying, ‘We are just going to pick and choose.’”

While this was the case, the board’s president, Heather DelConte, retorted that athletics brings a lot of students to school and without them, they may be more inclined to skip. Calvin also reminded the board that guidance does not mean that it is required, and the district needs to balance COVID-19 mitigation strategies with social-emotional health benefits.

“The caveat that we have heard is that one size does not fit all. You kind of need to recognize where your district is and utilize the guidance wherever you can to try and put into place the best types of programs … to ensure the health and safety as best as you can,” Calvin said. “We have spent a lot of time collaborating with a lot of colleagues from across the region, and everyone is looking for a way to still allow some opportunities for athletics, given the social-emotional needs of kids, given the needs of kids to try and still do something that causes them to still have that interaction, with the caveat that [we can pull it back.]”

Pamela Dowd of the board also chimed in and said the coaches and athletes did an excellent job last year wearing masks and following protocols, expecting to see more of the same this year.

By the end of the Superintendent’s Report, the board agreed to proceed with the plan that was laid out by Calvin. Calvin added that the plan should be posted in the coming week to provide additional clarity to the community.

After this report, the board ran through 69 different subjects across the agenda, curriculum, personnel and finance. Sixty-eight of these were passed unanimously with just personnel subject “U” being pushed to discussion in executive session by Dowd. She asked for this as there are salaries that might need to be discussed. The board approved of this motion to push subject “U” which reads, “Extra Compensatory Recommendations – OHS/OMS Winter Sports.” This subject discusses the salaries and positions of a variety of coaches for winter sports.

Agenda items and documents from the meeting can be found here. The full meeting can be viewed in the video link provided above.

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