Long Beach Schools Cancel Trips, Competitions, Other Gatherings

LONG BEACH, NY — Long Beach Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Gallagher announced to families today that the district would be making several changes in the face of the new coronavirus, including cancelling all field trips and competitions until the end of spring recess in mid-April

The changes were announce in a letter the superintendent sent to families, and was just the largest change that as being made. Gallagher said the changes would go into effect tomorrow, and all of the field trips and competition would be cancelled until April 20.

"The purpose here is two-fold: to limit building use to provide more opportunities for thorough cleaning, and to limit large group gatherings or exposure to places where large groups congregate," she said.

The cancellations also affect all large group gatherings and assemblies. Gallagher said this includes concerts, drama productions and more, including the SAT exams that were scheduled to be administered on Saturday. Lunch and gym will continue as usual.

In addition, the schools are also closing each building at 6:30 p.m. every day, which means any activities scheduled for the buildings after that time are canceled. The district is doing this so it can thoroughly clean the buildings. The district will also only be allowing spectators for outdoor-only sporting events.

The district is also changing all of the elementary school parent-teacher conferences to be over-the-phone instead of in person. The conferences were scheduled for this week and next week, but no parents should come to the school for them, Gallagher said. Instead, teachers will call the phone number on record.

Gallagher also said she expects that the district will be moving to online instruction sometime in the near future. "We are planning for the possibility for online instruction should the state give a waiver to permit such instruction in lieu of actual seat time, which we expect will be forthcoming," she said.

Any families that do not have wifi access at home, or do not have a computer they can use to complete school work and access the internet should notify their school's principal.

"I just want to say again that I am so grateful for our amazing Long Beach team, whose dedication and commitment to your children are so evident in the midst of this situation," Gallagher wrote. "I know that these times feel a bit uncertain, but I feel confident that our community will work through this as we have in the past."