Oswego BOE Discusses School Reopening Changes

OSWEGO – Reopening plans were the main topic of discussion during last night’s Oswego City School Board of Education meeting, August, 18.

Incoming Superintendent Dr. Mathis Calvin III discussed the school’s calendar change, going over the reasons surrounding the school’s reopening adjustments.

“Originally we were going to start the first week of September, the dates would be the second and third. What we would like to do is change that. We want to have staff start the 8th – 11th, and then students start the 14 – 18th.” Calvin said. “Now, that first week of the 14 – 18th, what we’re going to do is start our kids virtually that week. In-person would start the week of the 21st. Right on the 21st would be their first day in-person. And what we hope for is that this will give us enough time to get all that necessary PPE in, get all that technology in, get all the additional things we need in, into place.”

Certain events and dates were rearranged to ensure a 180-day academic calendar for the upcoming school year.

The first week of school will be completely virtual with in-person classes beginning the week of September 21, with a flexible remote learning plan in place in case of further change in the reopening plan.

“We recognize and we’ve been sharing over the past two days,” outgoing Superintendent Dr. Dean Goewey said. “We had three re-entry forms yesterday with community and parents, and we had another one this morning with faculty and staff, and we talked about that significantly, and that is that when we rolled this out, it has to be rolled out very well. And if that takes a little more time to make sure we have the equipment, preparation and mindset to do it, than we’ll take that time.”

Following are some of the reopening plan updates:

• Technology give-away will be begin the week of September 8-11. The High School and Middle School will receive their Chromebooks on September 8 – 9, with the elementary grades receiving their materials September 10 – 11.  Everyone will need to report to the High School to receive materials.
• Schedules and teacher assignments will be given out week of August 24. Informational robo calls to parents will begin August 19.
• Parents can choose to change from in-house schooling to completely virtual with a time-period of one to two weeks for revised teacher preparation.
• Daily online screening forms are available for parents to fill out each day. The district will contact you if not filled out the form before your child arrives at school.
• Temperature checks will be taken before entry onto buses and schools.
• Extra school support staff will be available to help at school. There will be staggered bus times and different entry points into the school.
• Meal deliveries are still available. Also, breakfast and lunches will be provided all year.
• Oswego Health will be partnering with the school, with enforcement of social distancing and mask wearing guidelines.
• An Isolation room will be available for people who are demonstrating symptoms until parents can pick up students.

For more information, you can visit the OCSD website, which has a  updated information on school reopening with a question and answer page for anyone with concerns about the upcoming school year. All BOE Meetings are held the first and third Tuesday of every month.

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