HCS Reopening Plan Extension Doc and Town Hall Info

Good Afternoon,

I hope this email finds you relishing every last summer moment as we wrap up August and prepare to enter September.  While I am a summer enthusiast at heart, it is with tremendous joy that we prepare to welcome back our students, faculty, and staff for the 2021-22 school year in less than two weeks.  HCS had the opportunity to welcome new teachers to the POUND this week for two days of New Teacher Orientation... The energy, excitement, passion and commitment to our work was not only palpable, it was CONTAGIOUS!

As I shared in my communication with the community last week, our primary objective at HCS is to best serve and meet the needs of ALL students within a model of 100% in person learning.  As such, the HCS Reopening model entails implementation of 100% in person instructional programming for all PreK-12 students with adherence to CDC and SED guidelines: universal indoor masking, physical distancing, layered transmission mitigation strategies, and health & safety related protocols.  I am reaching out this afternoon to share a few updates specific to our reopening. 

Governor Hochul 8/24 Press Release
As you are likely aware, Kathy Hochul was sworn in as governor yesterday.  In a press release following her official appointment, she announced that her "number one priority" is ensuring the safety of students in our schools.  To this end, she shared potential action items which included the following: 

• "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."

It is expected that a series of school related policies will be pushed out to school districts later this week.  I cannot emphasize enough, that flexibility is key!  As with every reopening plan developed by school districts across New York State, our reopening plan is fluid and may likely change as necessary based on updated guidance or mandate. I will alert the HCS community as soon as possible in the event that the anticipated school related policies result in any updates to our plan for reopening.

Building Level Extension to the HCS Reopening Plan
As promised, Mrs. Klaehn and Mrs. Pfluke have collaborated to draft a Building Level Extension to the HCS Reopening Plan which addresses nuances of plan application and safety protocols at the building level.  Thank you for your patience as they worked diligently over the last several days to prepare this document for families in effort to address "day to day" concerns and questions that may arise with implementation of the reopening plan.  

Save the Date! Town Halls Scheduled for Thursday, 8/26/2021
While the HCS Reopening Plan is comprehensive in nature, we anticipate that there will be numerous questions relative to the provisions of the plan.  As such, members of our COVID-19 Safety Coordination Team (instructional and operational leadership) will be available to respond to questions from families and students during voluntary, virtual Town Hall Meetings scheduled for Thursday, August 26. 

• The virtual Elementary Town Hall is scheduled from 6:00 - 7:00.
  • Google Meet link was shared with families via Parent Square.
• The virtual Secondary Town Hall is scheduled from 7:00 - 8:00.  
  • Google Meet links was shared with families via Parent Square.

Please note that the structure for our time together during the ES and Secondary Town Hall meetings will be as follows:

• HCS Reopening Plan Overview
• Review of Building Level Extensions to HCS Reopening Plan
• Question and Answer Segment

Questions? 
Upon review of the Reopening Plan and attached building level extension document, should you have any questions please direct them to your building principals as applicable ([email protected] or [email protected]) or to me ([email protected]).  

On behalf of the Honeoye Central School District, thank you for your patience and for the ongoing support and partnership in advocacy for all HCS students. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns about the information included in this communication, or otherwise.

Warmest regards,
E. Bridget Ashton

Elizabeth Bridget Ashton
Superintendent, Honeoye Central School District
8528 Main Street
Honeoye, New York 14471
[email protected]
On Twitter: @EBridgetAshton