Beekmantown CS offering in person, digital options for return to school

BEEKMANTOWN | Students here will have the option of returning to school full time or in a digital model, according to Superintendent Dan Mannix. Mannix said Beekmantown Central School will reopen for the 2020-21 school year with two options, an all in-person option and a virtual learning option, where students will be taught online for 4.5 days and will have the chance to attend the school for a half-day. "We did a preliminary survey and 30 percent of parents wanted to go virtual and 70 percent wanted their students to be in person," said Mannix. "We are finishing the signups this week, and so far it is staying within the numbers that the survey said." Mannix said the virtual option will be much more rigorous than last year, an experience which was brought on without a moment's notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing schools on a national basis. "I thought we did well with our virtual learning last spring, but I feel we can definitely do better given the chance to plan for it. The whole staff was pretty good with the virtual class setting. As the final numbers are coming in, we are starting to finish up the teaching expectations, the student and parent expectations, then posting those and notifying the educators." Mannix said the reopening plan was made with the goal to meet the needs of the students and families in the best way possible, including giving virtual students a chance to come to the school for a half-day to have the chance to socialize with their fellow students and teachers. "It gives them a chance for socialization, to make up work or something they need in-person help with," said Mannix. "It gives students a chance to pick up school supplies and get library books, get your food for the week." The half day will still include instruction, and students who do not want to attend the half-day in person will still be able to be involved online. Assessing Mannix said the district will have access to the infection rate on a daily basis and be able to adjust their instructional format, adding he felt it would most likely change during the school year. "At some point in the school year, I think we would all be teaching virtually knowing the history of the disease and knowing the history of pandemics," said Mannix. He added the parents of the students who opted to learn remotely expressed they would not send their kids back without a vaccine in place for COVID-19. "A lot of the families that want the virtual learning have let us know that until there is a vaccine, they really don't feel comfortable, and that is understandable," Mannix said. Any students who may want to change from virtual to in-person learning would have to be placed on a return to school waiting list, which would be updated given health guidelines. Parent meetings Beekmantown has already had a pair of meetings with teachers about the reopening plan, along with two meetings with parents. With Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking schools have at least three parent meetings and one teacher meeting, Mannix said the district will most likely be going above and beyond that guideline. "We are going to do three more with parents, and I would not be surprised if we do more," he said. "This thing is always changing and the key for everybody is they are going to have to be nimble." The meetings, which will be streamed using the Facebook Live platform, will be held Thursday, Aug. 13 (5:30 p.m.), Monday, Aug. 17 (8:30 a.m.) and Wednesday, Aug. 19 (3 p.m.). Mannix said there is a meeting set up with the teachers, as well, with more to come, including the use of superintendent days over the opening of the school year to put public health measures in place and staff training. "Friday, Sept. 11 will be the first-day wit the kids," said Mannix. "It will be wonderful to see all the kids back." He added the delay in starting the school year will also give the district a chance to see what trends may be happening in other schools. "We will probably have some lessons learned at that point we can implement," Mannix said. "We like to lead the way sometimes, but not in a situation like this." The Beekmantown reopening plan can be found online at bcsdk12.org.

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Beekmantown CS offering in person, digital options for return to school

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