Pat-Med School District Releases Potential Plan For Reopening

PATCHOGUE-MEDFORD, NY — The Patchogue-Medford School District recently released a potential plan for reopening schools in the fall. Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York schools can reopen only if coronavirus infection rates fall below strict benchmarks to be set in early August.

The "formula" that Cuomo spelled out allows school openings in regions that are in Phase Four and have an infection rate under 5 percent. An "emergency" stop to openings will take place if infections rise above 9 percent, he said. A full decision on openings is expected to be made within the next week.

Patchogue-Medford school officials presented a possible plan to give residents insight into what schools might look like during the pandemic. According to the presentation, the plan will include protocols such as keeping distance from others, washing hands and monitoring symptoms. In addition, officials are considering the timing of movement into, out of, and through a building.

The elementary school plans include a combination of live learning and remote learning, with students being split into two groups, attending classes twice a week. The first group would go to class Monday and Tuesday and do virtual learning Wednesday through Friday while the second group would have virtual classes Monday through Wednesday and attend live classes Thursday and Friday. Students would stay within a certain "bubble" to avoid interacting with the majority of their classmates, likely staying in one classroom, while the teachers would rotate if need be, also remain within a specific "bubble."

The plan for middle school also includes a combination of remote and in-person learning. Students would only have six periods a day at an hour each, including lunch. According to the presentation, students will be grouped "as a cohort" to keep traveling to a minimum and teachers will rotate into a classroom to reduce students traveling.

The high school plan will also include both remote and in-person learning with a six period schedule and "grab-and-go" lunches. On days students are not on-campus, they will schedule for course work that they have periods 7 through 9.

For special education, the plan also includes reducing the mixing of student groups and having special desks with barriers between teachers and students.

The presentation also spelled out a potential plan for buses which includes mandatory masks wearing on all buses and reducing the amount of students on the bus. Siblings may sit next to one

another.

Click here to check out the full presentation and plan.

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