Schools Weighing Micro-Cluster Contingency Plans [POLL]

NEW YORK — One of the more heated coronavirus-related discussions concerns schools and whether they should remain open or whether students should learn remotely, especially because of the recent increase in rates of infection.

School districts around New York are making contingency plans for if and when their communities might fall under a micro-cluster designation.

In October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a new strategy to try to stem rising coronavirus infection rates by targeting specific geographic areas, such as ZIP codes, townships and census tracts, that are experiencing increases in the spread of the virus. The areas are labeled yellow, orange and red, based on severity of the infection.

In the Bedford Central School District, Superintendent Dr. Joel Adelberg sent out a letter to the community saying that officials are developing a plan for the district if it finds itself in a yellow zone — the least restrictive of the zones.

Adelberg explains that he is working with the Westchester County health department about acquiring tests for the virus in case they need to administer them to 20 percent of the in-person students and staff over a two-week period, which is required in a yellow zone.

In Port Washington, there was talk on social media, after New York City decided to close its schools, that many parents were concerned schools in Nassau County might be closing due to rising infection rates.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, in a Facebook post, said she strongly disagreed with the decision to close NYC schools.

"Closing schools should be the absolute last resort," she wrote. "Isolating children from teachers and classmates is detrimental to young people's mental health and educational and emotional growth," as well as causing further economic devastation.

But then there are school districts, such as New Rochelle, a portion of which was recently added to the communities with yellow zones, where the superintendent frequently sends out emails explaining that another coronavirus case was confirmed and various numbers of students and staff are being required to quarantine.

The school district announced its decision, after the recent yellow-zone designation, to switch to remote learning until Dec. 3 at the earliest rather than test 20 percent of all in-school students and staff, with the exception of special education classes.

So now it's your turn to weigh in on the issue. Vote in our unscientific poll and tell us what you think in the comments.