Greetings Families and all in the Holley School Community,
Today, Governor Cuomo announced that schools in NYS can reopen, as long as they follow their approved plans. At Holley, we are prepared for in-person learning, most likely starting with our hybrid model. If the data we receive allows us to open with more in-person instruction, we will do so. Although the Governor said we can reopen, we still have to follow all the requirements of social distancing, wearing face coverings, and following all the other mandates for schools and buses. I want to reiterate that we want our schools to reopen for in-person learning as much as we can and we want to do so smartly and safely. We will continue to work extremely hard to ensure that we do just that.
Thank you to the many parents who have already completed our family questionnaire. The information we receive from this form is essential for determining our student schedules and how fully we can reopen our schools in-person. At minimum, we will open with the hybrid model that is described in our reopening plan that was submitted to NYS and shared with you Friday, July 31. If you haven’t yet filled out the
Holley Family Questionnaire, please do so now:
https://bit.ly/holleylearningplan. The deadline is Friday, August 14. Thank you!
Holley’s response to the Governor’s decision and his latest requirements for school districts to reopen:
- We will post what remote learning (for hybrid and fully remote) will look like at Holley. We have this in detail in our reopening plan, but will make it more “user-friendly” for parents and staff, and we will add FAQs and additional clarity.
- We will post what our plan will be for the testing of students and staff if they show symptoms and how we will facilitate that process and communicate about it. We will work in coordination with our local health department.
- We will post what our plan will be for contact tracing and how that will be conducted here at Holley, if we have a positive case. Again, coordination with our health department will be essential.
The Governor stated on August 7 that we need to have open forum discussions with both parents and staff to review our plans and answer questions. We intend to schedule three discussion opportunities for parents, and at least one for staff, before August 21. These discussion forums will be developed very soon and we will promote them via ConnectEd (email), our district website and through social media.
I realize that today’s announcement gives us hope and also answers some questions. However, I also know that there are still a lot of unknowns that we're all facing. We’ve come to expect that during this very challenging and unpredictable time. However, our district will continue to communicate with families and staff as we navigate through all of this together.
Thank you for your patience, for your support, and for reading these informational messages.
Stay Strong, Holley!
Brian Bartalo
Superintendent of Schools