From the Superintendent's Desk
Dear Community Members,
This past week, on her first day as Governor, Kathy Hochul announced that her "priority number one" is making sure children are safe in school, including:
"Immediately directing the Department of Health to institute universal masking for anyone entering our schools."
"Launching a back-to-school COVID-19 testing program to make testing for students and staff widely available and convenient."
Developing a method "to require vaccinations for all school personnel with an option to test out weekly, at least for now."
As you can imagine, these priorities will have an impact on our procedures during the 2021-2022 school year. The District’s priority has been to open our schools five days per week, for in-person learning in the safest manner possible. Our decision making is based on guidance (in some cases mandates) that have come from the CDC, New York State Department of Health, New York State Department of Education and Niagara County Department of Health. We will continue to adjust our plans based on the best available information and most current guidance from those noted above.
I anticipate having our revised plans for opening our schools available for our staff, families and students no later than Wednesday, September 1. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
I wish to encourage all those who are eligible to consider obtaining a COVID vaccination this summer prior to the start of school. As always, I hope that you will make an effort to reach out directly or follow me on Twitter @DrStopinski
Sincerely,
Dr. Hank Stopinski
Superintendent of Schools
