Weekly Update from the Office of the Superintendent
Volume 1, Issue 41 (May 7, 2021)
Gr. K-12 Updates

Ever since New York State released its updated social distancing guidelines a few weeks ago, we have been closely monitoring the total number of positive cases reported each day in Erie County. As you know, the new state requirements allowed us to transition to 3 feet of social distancing and return to 5 days of attendance at the elementary school level, but not at the middle and high school level. This is because Erie County is considered to be a high-transmission area based on the total number of cases per 100,000 residents according to the NYS guidelines. For this reason, our middle and high schools have continued to maintain 6 feet of social distancing and operate a hybrid schedule.

Initially, it appeared doubtful that cases would drop enough to allow middle/high schools to transition to 3 feet of social distancing. For that to happen, the total number of positive cases per 100,000 residents would need to be at or below 99 over a 7-day period. For Erie County, that would amount to a 7-day total of 909 cases or less, an average of 130 per day. Just one week ago, the 7-day total was 260. Over the past few days we have seen a very sudden decrease in total reported cases. The average number of cases between May 1 and May 5 was 143. On May 5, this number dropped even further, to 136.

The unpredictability of the number of cases makes it impossible to know whether we will see a consistent decline. It is important for our community to understand that, even if this trend continues, we are running out of time. We have approximately 5 weeks left of school before the start of Regents Exams and finals. A major transition like this takes time to implement. As difficult as it was to transition to 3 feet of social distancing at the elementary level, the challenges are even greater at the middle/high school level:
  • The contact tracing and quarantine requirements (which are still based on 6 feet) present a much greater challenge at the secondary level since students change classes. A positive case would result in many more students being quarantined, potentially involving significant portions of the school population. This could potentially impact students' ability to participate in end-of-year activities.
  • Our schools would need to implement changes to daily procedures such as arrival/dismissal, breakfast, lunch, class transitions, cleaning/disinfecting, and schedules. We would also need to secure more desks since we needed to redeploy hundreds of desks in our elementary schools in order to replace tables, allowing elementary classrooms to accommodate more students.
  • Remember, although 3 feet of social distancing would be permissible during classroom instruction, 6 feet would be required at all other times during the school day. This includes band, chorus, orchestra, PE, and lunch, all of which would be major challenges from a facilities standpoint. Our high schools for example would be challenged having to separate hundreds of students by 6 feet during each lunch period. The cafeteria facilities cannot accommodate this many students, and alternate spaces are limited.
  • Our secondary schools have implemented an effective model of instruction with students participating in 4 days of synchronous instruction each week. A transition such as this would result in significant disruption and the loss of precious instructional time.
  • At any point, we would need to be prepared to return to a hybrid schedule if we made this change. This would be required under the NYS guidelines if we were to see an increase in cases above the threshold.

Because of these challenges and the short amount of time our schools would have to work through them, our community can expect that we will not be making this transition should rates continue to decline. Our focus remains ensuring the safety of our students at every point during the school day and fully supporting them through the end of the 2020-21 school year.

Two weeks have passed since Gr. K-4 students transitioned to five days of in-person attendance. It continues to go extremely well. As you know, one challenge we anticipated was the contact tracing requirements and the likelihood of more students being quarantined. Usually, only those who meet the contact tracing criteria will be directed to quarantine, but we have seen cases in our region in which an entire class was quarantined. This occurred over the past week at one of our elementary schools. More than one individual developed symptoms and/or tested positive over a period of days. Although contact tracing indicated sources outside of school, ECDOH recommended the entire class quarantine.

We are progressing as a community as the number of cases and positivity rate continue to decline, but the virus is still very much a part of our lives. We have to continue to take it seriously and to do everything we can to minimize the risk of spread.

Planning for the Future

As we strive to return to normalcy, we must also plan for the future. Our students' success while making up for the learning loss caused by the pandemic will be at the heart of every decision moving forward. Planning must be strategic and sustainable and our structure must be aligned to position us for future success. Central to this work is the Ken-Ton Forward, the District’s strategic planning framework, which will be central in all future school and district planning.

The proposed 2021-22 school year budget is aligned to this framework. The spending plan represents an increase of only 1.98% (well below the historical average). The budget will be presented to voters during the May 18 Budget Vote and Board of Education Election. Voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18 at Hoover Middle School (use the Sheridan Drive entrance). Please note that in-person voting will resume this year with the ability to request absentee ballots for qualified reasons by May 11. I encourage everyone in our community to learn about the budget and vote. You can learn more about the budget at www.ktufsd.org/budget. Residents will also soon be receiving budget information in the mail.
RECOGNITION: TEACHERS, NURSES
& HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Today, the final day of Teacher Appreciation Week, we recognize all of our educators in every school, grade level and content area. We not only recognize our classroom teachers but all who are part of our professional teaching staff including the Instructional Support Specialists, School Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers. These professionals have such a profound impact on the lives of our students on a daily basis.

Throughout history, Ken-Ton has always been known for its high-quality educators. Fostering a world-class teaching staff has been a priority for our district. An example of world-class teaching is the Ken-Ton School District Mentor Program. The purpose of the Mentor Program is to place experienced and skilled educators with new teachers who are just beginning their careers. Collaborations with the Staff Development Center provide training and professional development to our staff on a yearly basis. Our teachers supporting teachers model is enhanced by the Instructional Support Specialists, experienced educators who coach and support teachers in specific content areas. These initiatives have established a legacy of fine educators that are second to none in our region and have served as a model for other districts. It is no surprise that Ken-Ton has so many National Board-Certified Teachers, NYS Master Teachers, and others who have achieved the highest distinctions in their profession.

Our District is lucky to have such talented and dedicated teachers. They are the foundation of our success. Everything we do as a District is to support and facilitate the work they do everyday in our schools. To teachers everywhere, thank you for all that you do.
National Nurses Week began yesterday and I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful school nurses. We have focused on our nurses and the great work they have done this year and every year. This week, please take the time to share your appreciation with them. They play a critical role in our schools. Their work was even more challenging as we reopened our schools during a pandemic. Thank you to all of our school nurses for all that you do!
Thank you for reviewing this information. As always, we remain Ken-Ton Proud, Ken-Ton Strong, and Ken-Ton Moving Forward!

For previous editions of the Ken-Ton Weekly Connection, visit www.ktufsd.org/connection