Weekly Update from the Office of the Superintendent
This week, we paid very close attention as New York State released long-awaited guidance for the reopening of schools in September. We will follow this guidance as we develop our reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year.

School districts are required to plan for three different scenarios: A return to school in September with daily face-to-face attendance; a fully remote and virtual learning environment; and a hybrid model, combining elements of the two. School districts are required to submit their plans to the state and post them online for public viewing by July 31. Our plans for each scenario, as well as the guidance we are following and all of the information and resources parents and families will need for the 2020-21 school year, will be posted to our website at www.ktufsd.org/reopening .

Because of the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts must be prepared to update and modify their plans as circumstances necessitate. School districts will need to continuously monitor the spread of COVID-19 and stay up-to-date on recommendations and guidance from public health authorities. Our most important priority is the health and safety of our students, staff, and families, and we will be prepared to adjust our planning throughout the summer and during the school year if necessary.

Reopening Guidance

Over the course of the week, staff have been working around the clock to review several different guidance documents that have been released by the state, which our plans must follow. On Thursday afternoon, the New York State Education Department released its formal guidance document for school districts, entitled "Recovering, Rebuilding, and Renewing: The Spirit of New York's Schools." We immediately began reviewing this 145-page document, which lays out all of the specific requirements that school districts will need to follow in the coming year. All of these documents can be found on our reopening page at www.ktufsd.org/reopening .

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will proceed with a regional approach to reopening schools. In each region, schools will be able to reopen if two conditions are met. First, the region must be in Phase IV of the “New York Forward” reopening framework. Second, the region's COVID-19 infection rate must be 5% or lower based on a 14-day average. County Executive Mark Poloncarz noted that, under this criteria, schools throughout the Western New York region would currently be eligible to reopen. However, the state will not make a final determination until the first week in August.

Also on Monday, the New York State Board of Regents adopted numerous regulatory changes in order to provide school districts with the flexibility needed to facilitate many of the precautionary measures that will be necessitated in the coming year. You can find information from that meeting, including the presentation and a video recording of the meeting, on the Board of Regents meetings page .
School Re-Opening Task Force Update
This week, the Ken-Ton UFSD School Reopening Task Force continued the work of guiding the development of our reopening plans which will need to be submitted to the state by July 31. There are several documents the team has been closely examining that establish the requirements school districts will need to adhere to beginning in September, including:


The Task Force, which is composed of district and school administrators, is working very hard to guide the development of Ken-Ton’s reopening plans. Several different sub-committees and school-based teams are focusing on individual areas of district operations, building-level planning, and community engagement. One of the challenges that all school districts are facing is the necessity of developing their plans in such a short period of time as requirements and guidance continue to evolve and emerge. The district is very fortunate to have an outstanding leadership team in place which is very diligently moving this work forward. Once the plan is completed, it will be communicated and made available to our families and staff. We are utilizing this communication, the "Ken-Ton Weekly Connection," to keep the community apprised of our progress until the plan is completed.

Reopening Survey

All members of the Ken-Ton School District community are invited to participate in a survey on the topic of reopening. Although school districts will have to follow very stringent requirements established at the state level, this data will help us develop a greater understanding of the local impact so that we can support our students, families, and staff to the greatest extent possible. The survey will close on Thursday, July 23. You can participate by going to www.ktufsd.org/survey . The survey is being conducted on behalf of the School Reopening Task Force as a follow-up to the Regional School Reopening Survey which was conducted in June. The survey questions were developed by Hanover Research, a research/analytics service provider, for K-12 school districts around the country to assist them with operational planning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regional Superintendent Collaborations

I have been engaged in extensive conversations with area school district superintendents that give us the opportunity to collaborate as state guidance continues to emerge. These virtual meetings are currently taking place every Wednesday and Friday and have been extremely beneficial. They will continue to provide me and other superintendents in Erie County with an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of state-level decisions and how those decisions will impact our planning. It also allows us to engage in conversations over potential solutions to some of the challenges we will face in the coming weeks and how best to serve our students, staff, and families.