July 23, 2020 – GASD Reopening Schools virtual forums July 29
The Greater Amsterdam School District will host two virtual information forums on the reopening of schools in the fall on Wednesday, July 29. The forums will be held:
- Forum No. 1 for GASD staff only – 2:30 p.m. – on Google Meet. An email invitation will be sent to all staff. Please note, Google Meet limits the number of online participants to 250. If you are unable to join because we’ve reached the limit or you simply are unable to attend at that time and date, the virtual staff forum will be recorded and the link to view emailed to all GASD staff within 48 hours. If you’d like to submit question (s) ahead of time for the staff forum, please send them to reopeningstaffquestions@gasd.org no later than 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29.
- Forum No. 2 for the general public (GASD students, families and community) – 5:30 p.m. – broadcast on the GASD YouTube Channel. CLICK HERE for the link to the channel. If you are unable to attend at that time and date, the virtual public forum will be recorded and the link posted on the GASD website within 48 hours. If you’d like to submit question (s) ahead of time for the public forum, please send them to reopeningpublicquestions@gasd.org no later than 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29. Questions may also be submitted that night in the YouTube comments section. We will answer as many questions as we can.
July 17, 2020 – State delays start of fall sports season
NYSPHSAA (the New York State Public High School Athletic Association) has announced that the start date for Fall sports has been pushed back to September 21st and the Fall Regional and State Championships have been cancelled due to COVID 19 pandemic.
July 8, 2020 – Cuomo sets timeline for submitting school reopening plans
Governor Andrew Cuomo, at his press briefing today, gave an official timeline for districts to submit school reopening plans and said he will make a decision by early August on whether or not to reopen schools statewide in the fall.
The state released finalized reopening guidance for school districts on July 13.
School districts will then submit their safety plans for reopening by July 31.
A state committee had been in talks for weeks about regional variations for school safety plans and to provide reopening guidance to school districts. GASD, one of 700 school districts in New York state, also has a reopening committee in place called SAFER that meets regularly to assemble its own reopening plan for the school district. That committee will submit its plan to the state by July 31.
Cuomo said New York state will review school district plans the week of August 1-7. The state then will approve, deny, or suggest changes to those plans. Based off of the plans and the most recent health data, a decision to reopen schools to students statewide in the fall will also be made by the state at that time, he said.
“I know parents want a decision now, they talk to me too,” Cuomo said. “But we want to make that decision with the best available data. The facts change here day to day, week to week. As we see a week could be a lifetime with this virus.”
GASD Superintendent Richard Ruberti added, “Thank you all for your flexibility and understanding during this very different time period. We will take one day at a time, plan accordingly, and keep the health and safety of students and all staff at the center of all planning a decision, while also following every bit of guidance provided. I will provide you with further information next week as we learn it.”
Governor’s Timeline
- July 13 – Meeting of the Board of Regents and the issuance of reopening guidance for all New York state schools
- July 31 – All New York state school districts must submit their plans for reopening in September
- August 1-7 – The Governor will make a decision on reopening based upon most recent health dates and the safety of doing so for students and staff