Bedford To Announce School Reopening Plans Next Week

BEDFORD, NY — In an effort to clarify where the Bedford school district is in developing plans for reopening schools, interim Superintendent Dr. Joel Adelberg offered a sneak peak of what the community can expect when the plan is officially released. He said the state Department of Education has required every school district to submit three plans for delivery of school services for the fall.

The plans must be devised for in-person, hybrid and remote learning.

"I know that there is a lot of information out there, in the press, through parent-generated social media platforms, and coming out of a number of task force meetings that members of our community have participated in during the last few weeks," Adelberg said in a letter to the district's parents and guardians.

He said that next week the district's website will have a link to the plan for September.

The plan, at this time, will include the anticipation of opening plans for September in a hybrid format for grades three through 12. The district is looking to bring back the kindergarten through second-grade students full-time, as well as all grades of students in special education classes.

The hybrid model will equate to teaching 50 percent of the students, in-person, all five days each week. Students will have a defined schedule, assigned by alphabet, that will have them attending school two days one week and three days the next.

Classrooms will be retrofitted to accommodate 50 percent of the students in each class, with desks spread out for 6-foot social distancing between the students and their teachers.

While elementary students will stay in their classrooms for the day, including lunch, secondary students will change classrooms using staggered passing times and directions through the corridors.

There is an expectation that students will help keep the surfaces sanitized as they exit and enter each classroom.

Deep cleaning and sanitization will take place every afternoon and evening in the classrooms and offices. The plan does not allow for after-school activities, in order to allow sanitization of classrooms and the school buildings for the next day.

Students will follow a defined schedule, as if they were in school, on days when they are learning from home.

(Read the complete letter from interim Superintendent Dr. Joel Adelberg here.)

Adelberg said that many more details are being developed and stressed that he used the phrase "at this time" throughout the plan because the district anticipates changing and adapting the document as circumstances demand.

He said he is hopeful that, by starting out as a hybrid model, early in the school year more students and staff will be able to move to a full in-person learning situation.

A questionnaire will be going out to all families later in the week to help in the planning process. The information they will be seeking includes how you feel about sending children back to school and whether you'd be driving or requiring buses.

"Finally, please know that we are committed to teaching our students five days a week, regardless of the model," Adelberg said. "We are committed to meeting all State standards and even surpassing these with high expectations for students and staff."

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