NY State Lifts Mask Mandate For Schools; Beacon City Schools Agree; Dutchess County Agrees

The robo-call came in on Sunday afternoon, while Beaconites were out doing things like going to Bounce! or grocery shopping, from Beacon’s Superintendent Landahl letting district families know that New York’s Governor Hochul had made her decision on the mask mandate. “After consulting with health and education experts, as well as parents, teachers and school administrators,” Governor Hochul explained that she was comfortable lifting the mask mandate for school children due to more New Yorkers getting vaccinated and a steady decline over the past several weeks in cases and hospitalizations from Omicron, on March 2nd.

Dr. Landahl robo-called to say that he agreed, and supported anyone’s decision to continue to wear a mask stating: “We also fully support staff or students who want to continue to wear masks. It has been a long 2 years for all of us and I want to take a moment to thank all of our staff for their tireless efforts over this difficult time. I want to thank our families for their incredible levels of patience and flexibility. Finally, I want to thank our students for their perseverance and leadership during this time.”

Some middle school students who prefer masks, voiced skepticism at the announcement. One student worried about their non-vaccinated friends. Another student made predictions about who would be taking their mask down right away, presumably based on what their parents wanted them to do, the student said. Both students expressed relief at being able to remove the mask when they wanted to, especially during gym class.

The Metrics Behind The Mandate Lift

Governor Hochul said that her decision “follows recent changes in metrics used by the CDC to determine risk and transmission levels in communities. Other mitigation measures should remain in place.”

“Among large states, New York has the highest rate of adults fully vaccinated for COVID-19,” Governor Hochul explained. “The highest rate of teenagers fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and the 2nd-highest rate of children ages 5-11 fully vaccinated. New York State has experienced a 98% decline in COVID-19 cases since the Omicron peak, and a continuous downward trend in cases for 51 consecutive days.”

Vaccination clinics continue to be hosted, and New York State established 261 vaccination sites for kids so far. Attention will need to continue to be paid to vaccination requirements as efficacy rates are measured over time. Long haul COVID-19 remains a factor, with unknown symptoms potentially lingering.

"With more New Yorkers getting vaccinated, and the steady decline over the past several weeks in cases and hospitalizations from Omicron, we are now entering a new phase of the pandemic. Because New Yorkers have stepped up, we can confidently remove the statewide mask requirement in our schools," Governor Hochul said. "This is a huge step forward for our kids and communities and I am grateful to the students, educators and parents for their dedication to keeping us all safe—we've reached this milestone because of your hard work."

Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro issued a statement on Sunday in response to the mask mandate lift, saying: “We welcome the end to mask requirements for our children later this week – and will take no action to require them locally.”

BCSD Families and District Report In First Day Back COVID Results - Community Is Hopeful With Layered Strategies

Despite the surging roar of the Omicron COVID-19 variant all over the United States, Beacon families remain hopeful that in-person learning can remain in place for kids and teachers if layered protection measures are in place, like the Test To Stay program (exposed kids testing negative for that day can go to school). Most families see that happening with a combination of regular vaccinations to ease the infection and hopefully reduce or prevent “long COVID;” coupled with easier testing to isolate a contagious case.

On Sunday, the Beacon City School District (BCSD) announced that they received their first shipment of at-home rapid tests, and would distribute them to families. That evening, Superintendent Landahl reported that nearly 60% of the BSCD community had come to pick up one test kit per child. Families who were unable to come could fill out a link to request that a test be placed in their child’s backpack. Those who filled it out prior to 9AM the next day received a test kit on Monday. Those who filled out the link prior to 9AM the next day would receive it next. The link was not intended for families who picked up at the in-person drive-through. New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul indicated that more shipments would be coming in her Winter Surge Plan.

At Monday’s close of the day, Dr. Landahl reported via his email distribution network to district families that of those who received the test on Sunday, 18 positive cases were voluntarily reported in to the district by Sunday evening. Those who tested negative did not need to do anything.

As for COVID-19 cases over the Winter break, Dr. Landahl released their findings, clarifying the official and unofficial known cases: “The state reporting mechanism for cases in schools does not operate over winter break and those are the cases we report to the community. By that standard, we have 1 case of COVID-19 to report to you today at Beacon High School. Individuals needing to quarantine or Test To Stay have been notified. Over break, we had close to 40 cases of COVID-19 reported to us from families and staff.  Many people did not have access to tests over the holidays so the number is probably higher.”

Some teachers in the district emailed parents and caregivers with preparation instructions on what to do if their child was at home so that the child could keep up with lessons. That has included videos that the teachers make, videos to other teachers that are recommended, and additional Remote Learning Tutoring sessions. Some teachers make extra time available in the morning or evening for their students, and some teachers have added a remote component to this for kids at home.

Dr. Landahl ended his email with a hats off to the community: “I want to take a moment to commend our families for being so diligent in reporting cases to us, letting us know about symptoms, and using the at home rapid tests. All of these efforts help us! Thank you! I also want to commend our staff today for a strong start after winter break. Thanks for everything you do!”

Beacon City School District Distributes Self-Test At Home COVID Tests Immediately Upon Receiving

As has been constant during this pandemic, the Beacon City District School (BCSD) Superintendent Matthew Landahl has kept the community updated with COVID shifts as cases ebb and flow. In his weekly Superintendent Update email sent on December 30, 2021, he stated that the district might receive a shipment of rapid self-tests before school starts on Monday, and if so, he explained what the process would be.

The line at Rombout Middle School to get COVID-19 home tests from the first shipment was long but moved swiftly.

On New Years Day, like a warm hug, Dr. Landahl sent a robo-call and text to the public school community announcing that the rapid tests had arrived, and would be distributed to BCSD students on January 2, 2022, at Rombout Middle School from 1:30-3:30pm. He requested volunteers to come to help organize people and hand out the tests.

Caregivers were instructed to write down their children’s names and ages for record keeping purposes. Those who did not write down the name had to pull into a special name-writing parking spot. Those who missed the distribution could register online to have their child take home a test in their backpacks the following school days.

At 1pm, cars already lined Matteawan Road early, backed up past the middle school, gradually to Verplanck Avenue with more cars wanting to turn right from Wilkes Street. This kind of traffic buildup usually only occurs on nights of a choral concert where students from several BCSD schools are performing at once. But that was in the pre-pandemic days when audience sizes were not limited.

The volunteers had opened up early, and the line moved briskly. One car did break down and needed a jump (note to self: juice the USB-powered jumping cube for just such an occasion…and find the USB-powered jumping cube somewhere in the car or shed).

Two pathways were created to receive handouts of COVID-19 home tests for BCSD students.

Several Board of Education Members attended the event, making sure it ran smoothly. Dr. Landahl walked between volunteer parking attendants and acted as a shuffler of cars after they were given one test box per student, answering questions from parents as parents and caregivers pulled away.

Dr. Landahl’s instructions were guidance. He encouraged caregivers to help students take the tests Sunday evening, before the first Monday of school back after the winter holiday, but stressed that taking the test was not mandated. Nobody has to take the test to go to school.

If one tested positive with this test or any test, Dr. Landahl encouraged people to email himself or the Deputy Superintendent, Ann Marie Quartironi with the update. No need to update them if the test was negative (yay you!). While rapid tests have questionable false negatives, they are so far a part of this pandemic.

A negative test result from an at-home rapid test sent home to BCSD students. Now everyone gets to experience the test-strip based anxiety of a home-pregnancy test!

Dr. Landahl reported that 60% of the BCSD students were given test kits during the Sunday distribution. The remainder of the students who did not make it to the distribution can sign up to get a test kit put into their backpacks via a special link that was emailed to caregivers.

While some caregivers were worried about supplies running out, New York’s Governor Hochul seems committed to having students tested on the regular. Other states like Ohio are far ahead of New York in this initiative, having provided home test kits to students and libraries since before Thanksgiving 2021.

PS: Kids are calling this “the boogie test” because you got to swab as much snot as possible!

Are At-Home Rapid Test Kits Coming To Residents Of The City Of Beacon?

After Governor Hochul’s announcement of her “Winter Sure Plan,” at least one shipment of rapid home tests arrived to Beacon via Dutchess County via New York State. All municipalities were sent one shipment. The City of Beacon decided that the Beacon Police Department would hand them out. The Beacon Police Department posted an announcement on their Facebook Page. ALBB ran an article promoting their message.

The demand was so great, that supplies lasted only a few hours. By the next day, or day after, the Beacon Police removed their Facebook post. Mayor Kyriacou never made a robo-call or text or email to announce that test kits had arrived, and City of Beacon never published any announcement to their website, as the Mayor stated they would at a City Council Meeting toward the end of the year.

The Communications Department of Dutchess County who is normally very responsive to questions, was on vacation during this time, so did not return requests for shipment schedules when ALBB reached out.

If the City of Beacon received any additional shipments, it is unknown how they would have made that announcement, based the way they did not announce the first shipment.

However, on the City of Beacon’s website, you can learn about the Inauguration of new City Council Members that happened January 1 had been closed to the public out of an abundance of caution for COVID, and the proper way to dispose of a Xmas Tree (just make sure no lights or ornaments are on it, don’t put it in plastic, and leave it nekid and natural on the curb for the Highway Department to pick up…they will take it to the Transfer Station to turn into mulch).

Beacon City School's "Test To Stay" Program - How It Works - Governor Says Tests Might Come Home In Backpacks In Future

Beacon High School. The Community Room that currently hosts the “Test To Stay" program is to the right of the front door.
Photo Credit: Beacon City School District

Beacon City School District’s Test To Stay (TTS) COVID-19 program started the week ending in December 10, 2021, as announced by Superintendent Landahl in his weekly Superintendent Update email. This is a voluntary program that requires parents consent for their child’s participation to get tested for COVID-19 if they are exposed to a person with a positive result.

In that announcement, Dr. Landahl stated that after the Winter Break, the district plans to make rapid testing available for a limited number of students outside of the quarantine process. Governor Kathy Hochul indicated in her Winter Surge Plan announcement on 12/20/2021 that with the expansion of tests to districts, that might be possible. At the encouragement of the Governor, President Biden has authorized the Defense Production Act to make more tests.

“This [quarantine after exposure] is so disruptive to their education, as well as the parents, who’ve been desperately trying to get back to a normal life, get back to their jobs. And the lack of childcare has been, just another area of friction for these families that have been really hit so hard.”

— Governor Kathy Hochul

If a student or staff is identified in a contact tracing map from a student or staff who tests positive for COVID-19, the people in the contact tracing chain may be eligible to test each morning of their quarantine period with rapid COVID-19 tests provided to the Beacon City School District by New York State, via Dutchess County. In order to attend school for that day (does not include extra curriculars and sports at this time). This is at no cost to the district.

Said Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro on 12/17/2021 in support of the program, as he wrote a letter encouraging Governor Hochul to provide additional funding to the program: “Dutchess County has continually demonstrated our commitment to supporting safe, in-person education through layered mitigation strategies and has assisted local school districts with logistical challenges associated with getting their TTS programs started.

“While the program is not without complications, the value of the approach is unimpeachable. Thanks to TTS, hundreds of Dutchess County students have already benefited from the ability to stay in school, without unnecessary disruption of quarantine following an exposure. This school year has prompted repeated exposures and TTS has provided a vital, safe alternative to having students sit at home with little to no educational enrichment.

“Importantly, TTS also provides increased information about the health status of exposed students by effectively creating a targeted surveillance testing program where parental consent is more easily attained.“

Governor Hochul outlined in her Winter Surge Plan announced on 12/20/2021 that the Test To Stay program would remain funded, and receive additional tools. She outlined her philosophy in her speech on how the program will continue to work:

“Children are in a classroom, someone tests positive. Ordinarily, they would have been sent home for a long period of time. And then even if someone - they go back - someone tests positive again, the next week they're sent home again. This is so disruptive to their education, as well as the parents, who've been desperately trying to get back to a normal life, get back to their jobs. And the lack of childcare has been, just another area of friction for these families that have been really hit so hard.

“So, we'll be making sure that there's, in their backpacks, they will be sent home with testing kits. Children test positive, we know it, someone in the classroom, the kids in the classroom will be sent home with testing kits. So, we're working on that supply chain right now. So starting in early January, we will be able to address that. So there's no reason why our children can’t stay in school. Really important to me. Also, talking about education, we've been in contact with the leaders of our higher education institutions, our SUNY school presidents and our private school presidents. And we're convening a symposium of those leaders to talk about getting back our college students when they return under normal circumstances a little bit later in January and making sure they follow the same return protocols.

“We don't have that disruption again to their education and what the professors and teachers and they had to go through, but also the economic impact, many of our college campuses typically upstate or in small towns, that is the livelihood of their economy. Having those students in person. So, for a number of reasons, it goes to my philosophy of protecting the health of individuals, protecting the health of New Yorkers, as well as protecting the health of the economy.”

How Test To Stay Works For Beacon City School Students

The following information is from the school nurse sent to a parent of a student identified in a contact tracing map.

The Test To Stay program is optional for district students to participate in, and must have parent consent. The district is working with Dr. Neal Smoller for administration of the shots (as well as optional pediatric vaccinations during pop-up clinics). Those who choose not to participate in the Test To Stay program will keep their child home for the quarantine period prescribed to them by the school nurse. Those students will remain in the district’s Fully Remote (FRT) status for the duration of the quarantine.

Based on experiences of parents who had children identified in contact tracing, when the child is identified in a contact tracing map, the school nurse will call the parents or caregivers to find out more information. Depending on when and if the child was vaccinated will contribute to if the child is eligible to Test To Stay. For instance, if the child received their second vaccination shot one week prior to being exposed, they are considered not fully vaccinated yet (as the body is still working on building up resistance to the virus) and the child is eligible for the Test To Stay program.

However, If the child is not symptomatic, and considered fully vaccinated based on the length of time since their second shot, then the nurse might not recommend Test To Stay, and may also not recommend a 10 day quarantine. This is the experience one parent had when their child was exposed twice in one week and identified in two different contact tracing maps. The child was able to return to school without testing, and without quarantining.

As of now, testing is between 7am-8:45am at the Beacon High School Community Room There will be a nurse there to test the student. Students and their caregiver will have to wait for about 15 minutes in their car or outside. If the child is positive, the nurse will call the caregiver. If the child is negative, no phone call will be made, and the child can go to school.

This is to be repeated daily for the length of the prescribed quarantine period.

Those who choose the TTS option and get a negative result are not lifted out of quarantine completely, only for the school day and no extra curricular activities may be participated in. During recent Board of Education meetings, Beacon’s Superintendent Landahl has expressed that he does not understand this logic, but is honoring this requirement from New York State.

The test must be done daily prior to each school day up until the 7th day after possible exposure. The student must be brought to school (no bus transportation to school prior to the test) for the test. After testing negative and attending school for the day, the student may take the bus home for that day.

Testing Out Of Quarantine Completely After 7th Day

As of now (12/23/2021), a second layer of testing out is added to this equation. From the letter sent by the school nurse to a parent whose child was identified in contact tracing and eligible for Test To Stay:

“Choosing the TTS option also allows you to have your student test out of their quarantine completely after their 7th day of possible exposure.”

Steps to Test out of Quarantine

• Get a COVID-19 test on day 5 or later of quarantine. Rapid & PCR tests accepted.

• Upon receiving a negative test result, immediately send the result to TestOut@dutchessny.gov.

• Wait for a release from a quarantine letter from the Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health. Letter turn around is usually 24 hours from submission. Note, it may take up to 36 hours during non business hours (weekends).

• Quarantine ends after day 7 or later with a release from the quarantine letter. However, if you do not have the release letter you must continue to quarantine through day 10.

• Continue monitoring for symptoms through day 14

• For assistance call the COVID-19 information line at 845-486-3555.

This process is not for Test To Stay for daily school attendance. It is for lifting quarantine completely after the 7th day to do extra curricular actives.

Teachers Beg For Kids To Remember To Bring Water Bottles To School - Cups Spill

One of Beacon’s safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to close the water fountains to prevent communicable spread. Kids were encouraged to bring in their own water bottles so that they could get drinks, and refill the water bottle. Kids who don’t bring or have a water bottle are offered little cups of water.

The cups of water has become a point of interest for some kids. Getting a cup may be a reason to go to the nurse if cups run out in a teacher’s room. Or a request to refill a cup might be denied to a middle schooler if they are in the middle of class, or if hallway schedule times aren’t great for kids of different ages mixing in the halls.

In talking to Rombout Middle School’s Principal Brian Soltish about a completely unrelated matter of how bullying in school is dealt with these days, one item that came up was refilling water cups. While Principal Soltish did indicate that Rombout Middle School designs its hallway schedule with age groups in mind - to reduce that age-old rivalry between older 8th graders with newer 6th graders - fetching refills of water cups can factor into this.

When asked if the kids can bring water bottles (knowing that kids can, as they are on the school supply lists), Principal Soltish nearly jumped through the phone with an emphatic “YES!!!!” He went on to explain that kids being kids, the water cups are dropped and spill everywhere. “We were buying bottles of water at one point, to curb the cups, but it became too expensive.”

Teachers in the elementary schools are also expressing surprise at how often the little cups of water spill, causing needs to stop teaching and clean up the water. Either at a desk, the floor, on students themselves, or in the hallway.

Water bottles are usually an easy thing to forget, be it for sporting events or now daily school. Even if a household has 17 water bottles at home. However, in addition to the big concepts the teachers are teaching, they want water bottles in backpacks.

PS: Teachers are also asking parents and caregivers to remember to help kids charge their laptops at school. There can be 16 kids in a class with only a few outlets in the classroom. Completing online work in the classroom can be difficult if devices are drained.

Beacon City School District Staff Are 84% Vaccinated

From Right: Beacon Board Of Education (BOE) Member Craig Wolf, and Meredith Heuer, President
Photo Credit: Screenshot of 11/8/2021 BOE Meeting

UPDATE 12/2/2021: Dr. Landahl responded to ALBB’s request for current staff vaccination rates: “We are at an 84% staff vaccination rate: 86% for teachers/admins, 83% all other staff.” The title of this article originally said “Near 80%” and has been edited to say 84%.

Craig Wolf, retired journalist for the Poughkeepsie Journal, and current Board Member for Beacon’s Board of Education (BOE) for the Beacon City School District, asked Beacon’s Superintendent of Schools Dr. Landahl during his COVID Update at the end of the 11/8/2021 Board of Education meeting about staff vaccinations.

Craig asked: "How are we doing in terms of vaccinations for our staff?"

Dr. Landahl answered: "About a month ago it was about 73% of our employees were vaccinated." The district staff had not tallied the numbers as of this BOE meeting in early November, but Dr. Landahl felt comfortable estimating that it had increased to close to 80% by early November. Staff vaccinations are recorded in broad terms, and not identified by department or type of staff, Dr. Landahl explained.

"Every week we have a few more folks who get vaccinated," Dr. Landahl expanded.

ALBB has requested the percentage closer to December, but did so close to this publishing, and is awaiting response. When and if an update comes in, this article will be updated. We are binge-listening to the BOE meetings for updates as well. if you are further ahead of us and know the answer, do send a link and video minute notation.

School Employees In New York Have The Choice To Get Vaccinated

School employees have the choice to get vaccinated, or go through weekly testing, as is the mandate from the New York State level. It is not one the Beacon City School District can make unique to their district. Wearing a mask in school is also mandated at the New York State level by Governor Kathy Hochul. She did this to create a safer space for students and staff to attend school in person, and possibly, remove safety precautions and extra layers of safety during an air-born based pandemic later on if enough people are vaccinated, which could reduce the ability for the virus to mutate.

From New York State's press release: "Governor Kathy Hochul today (9/2/2021) announced that her strategy to reopen schools safely took a major leap forward on two fronts, demonstrating her administration's commitment to making the health and well-being of students, teachers, and families a top priority. Earlier today, the Public Health and Health Planning Council passed an emergency regulation and the Health Commissioner issued a determination requiring all teachers, administrators and other school employees to submit to weekly COVID-19 testing unless they show proof of vaccination, with either a CDC vaccine card or the Excelsior Pass."

How Has The Anti-Vaxx Reaction Been At Beacon’s Board Of Education Meetings?

Very civil. A handful of people have come out to speak at the Public Comment portion of the beginning of the meetings both in support and not of vaccinations for teachers, masks for kids, and required weekly testing for the unvaccinated. Beacon’s Board of Education President Meredith Heuer has thanked participants for being cordial during this time of potential discord nation-wide. Board Member Kristan Flynn has also thanked meeting attendees for their calm manner in delivering opposing viewpoints.

The local paper, the Highland Current, was the first to report one of the first voices of dissent from a staff member on the vaccine mandate. Beacon City School District staff member who identified herself as Laurie Malin (pronounced “maleen” with a hard “e”) each time she speaks against vaccines and testing (an early time was 9/13/2021). The Highlands Current - and current students - confirmed that she is a science teacher at Rombout Middle School. She is tenured, as confirmed by Rombout Middle School’s Principal, Brian Soltish. Laurie spoke publicly and strongly against getting vaccinated, as well as against getting testing tested weekly in exchange for choosing to not get vaccinated.

In her reasoning for not getting regularly tested, she stated commonly debunked theories, which you can listen to here at the beginning of the meeting. While repeating her information in this article risks re-spreading that misinformation, one of the articles debunking what she said can be found here at Reuters, a national and internationally syndicated news source.

In another article, ALBB might transcribe Laurie Malin’s comments in order to provide further background of her future actions at public meetings and in front of students in her classroom.

Kids COVID Infections Continued: 9 Confirmed Cases In BCSD Over Thanksgiving Break

The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases after Thanksgiving was a question on many parents’ mind, safe to say, in any state in the nation. If kids cases were increasing right before the holiday break, what would it be upon returning to school?

The Beacon City School District’s (BCSD) Superintendent Landahl was quick to provide an answer, as is consistent with any confirmed case in the district on a daily basis. In an email to parents and caregivers sent today (11/30/2021), he said:

“Over Thanksgiving break, we learned of 9 total cases of COVID-19 in the BCSD. Two individuals at Rombout Middle School and seven individuals at Beacon High School. Due to the length of time these individuals have been out of school, there is no quarantining with these cases. This is an aggregate number of cases we learned about over the five days of break.”

UPDATE 12/2/2021: The confirmed cases that are announced by Dr. Landahl are those of any person in the district schools. A person could be a teacher, a student, etc.

The BCSD has layered safety measures in place inside of each school, such as more space in cafeterias, outdoor learning areas, reduced populations in the hallways during class changes, and other measures to encourage social distancing.

Ventilation Upgrades In Aging Beacon City Schools

During the last Capital Project for the district, Rombout Middle School did receive ventilation-based upgrades. This was a fortunate coincidence in preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Landahl explained during his 2021 presentation of this next Capital Project that did get passed by City of Beacon voters. Ventilation upgrades are planned for each of Beacon’s six public schools.

You can learn more of Dr. Landahl’s thinking during his presentation at a Board of Education Meeting here.

Vaccinations and Kids

For additional clinic opportunities, Dr. Landahl has been encouraging access to pediatric clinics from the holistic pharmacist Dr. Neal Smoller, who conducted the vaccination clinic at the Beacon High School in early November 2021. Because of the need for volunteers, Dr. Landahl said during a recent school board meeting that Beacon will most likely not hold additional vaccination clinics, or at least not very many, as it was difficult to get volunteers.

In an email to district parents and caregivers dated 11/30/2021, Dr. Landahl stated: “There are a number of opportunities to get the Pediatric Pfizer vaccine. Dr. Neal Smoller, the pharmacist we are partnered with, has a number of community clinics coming up that you can join. Visit drneal.co/kids to see the full schedule”

Appointments at stores and pharmacies are also available. You can visit Vaccines.gov for an easy zip-code based database that connects you with websites for online scheduling, or phone numbers for appointments made over the phone. These include Drug Mart in Cold Spring, Walmart in Fishkill, and other familiar locations.

Governor Hochul Makes Funding For COVID-19 Testing In Schools; Mask Mandate For Schools; Possible Vaccine Mandate For School Employees

Days after being sworn in as New York’s Governor on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul issued new directives for schools in New York. These include:

• Directed Department of Health to institute Universal Mask Requirement in all schools (public and private)

• Began pursuing options to mandate vaccines for school employees

• Launched COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program using $585 Million in federal funds in partnership with counties and BOCES

• Established Additional Back-to-School Testing Program in Partnership with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid and BioReference

• Acquired Millions of Masks for Students and Educators

Masking Mandate

While masking is generally accepted by Beaconites, some parents have indicated objection in social media and on reopening planning calls with Beacon City School Districts (BCSD) Superintendent, Dr. Landahl. He delivered his first reopening presentation on August 13, 2021, and is slated to present again via video call this evening with updated or clarified guidance based on New York State’s new guidance (read the slides here).

In response to this mask mandate, Dr. Landahl provided clarification on Mask Breaks, stating: “Universal Masking is now required by the state for staff and students in schools. Mask breaks will either be outside, or when students are separated from other individuals by 6 feet and under the guidance of a staff member for a brief amount of time.” Masking outdoors is not required by New York State at this time, and BCSD is following that guidance.

According to Governor Hochul’s press release, New York State has available more than 4.3 million child-sized clothed face masks, about 10 million adult-sized clothed face masks and almost 55 million non-surgical face masks to provide to students and teachers in schools across the state.

Possible Vaccine Requirement For School Staff

Said Governor Hochul in a press release: “As Governor, my priorities are now the priorities of the people of New York - and right now that means fighting the Delta variant," she said. "My number one priority is getting children back to school and protecting the environment so they can learn safely. I am immediately directing the Department of Health to institute universal masking for anyone entering our schools, and we are launching a Back to School COVID-19 testing program to make testing for students and staff widely available and convenient. We are also working to require vaccinations for all school personnel with an option to test out weekly, and we are going to accomplish all of this by working in partnership with all levels of government."

In response to the proposed vaccine requirement, Dr. Landahl is preparing to follow through with requiring vaccinated staff to test weekly. He stated: “Governor Hochul is preparing to announce a vaccine or testing requirement for all school staff. I am hearing that this will be announced in the next few days. If it becomes law, all unvaccinated staff will be required to undergo weekly testing.” Dr. Landahl stated in his 8/13/2021 presentation that is is strongly supportive of this vaccination.

COVID-19 Testing Accessibility

According to Governor Hochul’s press release, to help ensure testing is available to students as they return to school, Governor Hochul is using $335 million in federal funds to launch a new COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program in partnership with local health departments and BOCES in New York State outside of New York City. In addition, New York City has received $251 million directly to initiate a COVID-19 Testing in Schools Program there, for a total of $585 million in federal funding in New York State to support these programs.

This is a huge development, as getting required testing for kids is time consuming, and challenging with different health insurances. Testing, at this time, is not free like the vaccine. Unless via a federal or state funded school opportunity such as this.

Governor Hochul also launched an additional back-to-school COVID-19 testing program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Rite Aid and BioReference to make testing more widely available for New York State public school students before the start of the 2021-2022 school year.

Beacon School District Releases Reopening Details; Presented By Superintendent Landahl

On August 12, 2021, Beacon City School District released reopening guidelines for the 2021/2022 school year, presented delivered by Superintendent Landahl. Overall, the district is following the New York Department of Health and the New York State Education Department’s guidance, who advised districts to follow the CDC school opening guidelines for the upcoming school year. Dr. Landahl opened his presentation with this observation: "New York has been an interesting state to do my profession in, as no one wants to seem to give any guidance."

“I’m a big believer in vaccines, and a huge believer in this one.”

— BCSD Superintendent Landahl

The overall goals for the 2021/2022 school year is for a full 5 days of in-person learning with safety measures put into place to keep schools open and students healthy during the ongoing pandemic. The number one item that Dr. Landahl asked of parents was for patience, as guidelines shift and realities of implementing guidelines with young people can be challenging.

District Practices For Reopening

The biggest change from last year is that the hybrid model will be discontinued. Dr. Landahl reiterated that every level of government that is issuing guidance has prioritized in-person learning, but to be prepared to shift into Remote if a school has an exposure, or if Contact Tracing will take too long to identify individual students or staff as an alternative to closing. For students with serious health compromises, Dutchess BOCES may be offering a program, Dr. Landahl said.

Kickoff Guidelines:

• 5 Days In-Person Instruction/Experience. The hybrid schedule will be discontinued. No cohort groups will be made (this was when students in a class were divided into 2 groups: blue and gold).

• Remote Learning will be available to all students, a school, or a classroom if there is a closure due to COVID-19.

• Masks indoors will be required for all individuals, students and staff, regardless of vaccination status. The policy will be reviewed throughout the school year. All of the governing bodies recommenced wearing a mask indoors, including Beacon’s District Physician.

• Masks are not required outdoors. When kids are outside for recess, lunch, etc. This guidance was released at the end of the 2020/2021 school year in the spring.

• Masks are required on buses and for indoor sports, but not for outdoor sports per the outdoor mask guideline.

• “Rugs are coming back!” to the elementary schools, Dr. Landahl confirmed.

• Distancing will be the CDC distancing requirement of 3 feet. When distancing is not feasible, layered prevention strategies will be implemented.

• Ventilation will be in all classrooms, which are outfitted with a portable HEPA filter and MERV-13 filter.

• Daily health screener (the online health form to fill out) will be continued.

• Cleaning protocols will be continued. Classrooms will be sanitized every night.

• Vaccination opportunities will be promoted. Most drug stores are now offering free vaccines.

• Positive Test Result of Child: If a whold class is out due to a positive test result with large exposure, then the whole class switches to Remote. If it is a single child pulled out resulting from Contact Tracing indicating a small or no exposure, the district is currently brainstorming this with the county. “We don’t have a Remote apparatus that a child can just slide into,” Dr. Landahl stated. He may have been referring to the Blue and Gold hybrid days, where Remote instruction was always in motion on any day for a different group.

BCSD Is Getting Guidance From New York State Governing Bodies

On advisement from the New York Department of Health and the New York State Education Department the BCSD will be following the CDC school opening guidelines for the upcoming school year. Dr. Landahl reiterated that the CDC “highly recommends a mask mandate in Dutchess County” based on community transmission, which currently is “High” and is climbing. To illustrate the spike, the number of active COVID-19 cases in June 2021 was 56 people. The number of people on August 12th, 2021 was near 700 (as of August 28, it was 878).

Masking is so important to be mandated, Dr. Landahl explained, because: “Proper masking allows us to reduce the number of staff and students who have to quarantine through contact tracing. If you are wearing a mask, you are mostly exempt from quarantining per CDC.”

Remote Learning

The current intent is full time 5 days, with preparations in place for if a school needs to be shut down for COVID-19 exposure. Last year, Contact Tracing was rigorously conducted within the district by district staff to advise affected persons to stay home, while the school could remain open.

“We are evaluating a program for remote learning at BOCES for students with a serious medical condition that prevents them from attending in-person education and creating a process that will identify those students,” Dr. Landahl said.

Vaccines In Beacon City School District

Vaccines are not mandatory for students or staff in the Beacon City School District. When asked why by a parent on the webinar Town Hall call, Dr. Landahl answered he was not aware that any district is able to require vaccinations, unless that directive comes from New York State. “All of our employees work under contracts, which have different bargaining units. If we were to go in that direction, directive would be coming from the state level.”

At this time, the percentage of teachers, staff, and students over the age of 11 who are vaccinated is unknown. BCSD was not in the habit of collecting it, as collecting it was not required by any governing body. However, Dr. Landahl is looking into ways to collect that data to make available to the public.

In terms of Dr. Landahl’s personal opinion on vaccinations, he was not shy to state it: "I'm a big believer in vaccines, and a huge believer in this one. Vaccines are working, please consider getting vaccinated!"

The district will work on holding vaccination clinics to increase the rate with students and will work with the local health department on education efforts for people who have questions. Dr. Landahl stated that he is interested in finding funding to assist with testing.

Ventilation In The Schools

The currently known transmission method of COVID-19 is primarily airborn, with less focus on surface transmission. Each classroom uses a MERV-13 filter in its air handler unit and has a portable HEPA filter. Nightly sanitation will continue.

Editor’s Note: not every classroom has an air conditioning unit, such as in South Avenue. Perhaps the pandemic or climate crisis can allocate funding for standing air conditioning units or mini-splits to help the children and teachers stay cool. Concentrating and staying hydrated is quite difficult in high temperatures.

Outdoor learning opportunities are at the schools, such as a math class on a sidewalk at South Avenue Elementary, and band class held outside at Rombout Middle School may continue. Lunches at schools were taken outside at times, weather permitted.

Health Screening In The District

While no longer recommended by New York State, Dr. Landahl said, the district will continue with using the daily health screener, which is an online form parents need to fill in an hour before school. It can make a parent extra mindfull that they are sending in a sick child when they click the box that says “sore throat” or “sneezing.” It is unclear at this time if submitting a sick screener triggers the need to get a COVID-19 test, which is burdensome on the parent for time and health insurance reasons, as tests are not free (unless you find a New York State facility), and can trigger an additional doctor appointment for a cold that would otherwise have been mild enough to forgo a doctor appointment.

The district is discontinuing the use of temperature screening before the school year. “Very few districts used it last year and there is a growing consensus that it is not an effective way to screen COVID-19,” Dr. Landahl stated. “It is not the best allocation of resources to identify [active cases of COVID-19]."

Distancing and Breakfast/Lunch

"Last year, distancing recommendations were a lot different,” Dr. Landahl said during the presentation. “That was our biggest reason for being in the hybrid model for as long as we were." Following these recommendations, he said, there was little transmission. “If [a situation] needs to be below 3 feet [of distancing], we will use other layered methods. Like filtration and staying home if you are sick.”

The CDC recommends 3 feet distancing in schools with mask wearing. This is an example of a layered approach to achieve more desirable circumstances.

As for eating breakfast and lunch, each school is preparing different lunch plans to make sure students can eat lunch and stay as distanced as possible, Dr. Landahl said. Plans include some outside eating, split lunch shifts, etc. Exact plans for this are still in development and will be developed in a school-by-school plan.

COVID-19 Testing In The District

COVID-19 testing is voluntary, and testing is recommended for staff and students as a further mitigation effort. “We are exploring different ways to accomplish this hopefully in partnership with Dutchess County,” Dr. Landahl stated, reiterating that he hoped for funding from Dutchess County.

Editor’s Note: As of August 24, 2021, Funding has since been introduced by the new Governor of New York, Kathy Hochul. COVID-19 testing is very burdensome for those with different health insurance requirements. Some health insurance companies require doctor's note (which requires an additional appointment). If COVID-19 testing is required for school, like to return to school from a sick health screen form, some health insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield won't cover the test at all (which can range between $150 - $300), and defers coverage to the school district's health insurance.

Since Governor Hochul took office, new guidelines have been released, like a universal mask requirement being instituted at all schools by the Department of Health, as well as options to mandate vaccinations for school employees. Dr. Landahl will deliver an updated to this initial presentation on August 31st or September 1st.

Click here to access the slides to his August 12th presentation.

Click here to watch his August 12th presentation on YouTube.

CDC Issues Mask, Re-Opening, and Safety Guidance For Kids In School For 2021/2022 School Year

The CDC has released their guidance on re-opening schools for grades K-12, as well as on mask wearing. The CDC wants schools to fully re-open in person, and for people not vaccinated to wear masks. Those who are fully vaccinated are guided to use their discretion on if they want to wear a mask. Stores, restaurants and other places of business continue to have the choice to set their own preference for their customers. The news was early reported by editors on LinkedIn.

Said the CDC: “Students benefit from in-person learning, and safely returning to in-person instruction in the fall 2021 is a priority. Vaccination is currently the leading public health prevention strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Promoting vaccination can help schools safely return to in-person learning as well as extracurricular activities and sports.”

Being that the Biden Administration has been extremely supportive of spreading the message of safety, as well as distributing federal funding to ensure that safety, a new level of trusts exists within the North American public, as opposed to last year at this time during this re-opening debate, coupled with high case and death numbers, was higher. For example, see how Brazilian eviction refugees are faring without federal support.

It is important to remember that in countries with low vaccination rates, and low trust issues for their governments, such as Brazil and India, case and death numbers continue to be high. Many people continue to die per day in India. Reporters from India, one of whom lost her father to the virus, have long speculated that several deaths are going uncounted, especially in rural areas.

The CDC recommends masks for kids age 2 and older. Mainly, the CDC is recommending to layer safety provisions in case masks are not possible. The “CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms, combined with indoor mask wearing by people who are not fully vaccinated, to reduce transmission risk. When it is not possible to maintain a physical distance of at least 3 feet, such as when schools cannot fully re-open while maintaining these distances, it is especially important to layer multiple other prevention strategies, such as indoor masking.

Ventilation, cleaning and screening are still highly recommended. “Screening testing, ventilation, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick and getting tested, contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation, and cleaning and disinfection are also important layers of prevention to keep schools safe.”

The CDC implores people to stay home when feeling sick. “Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care.” In order for this to happen, employers are going to need to be more forgiving when people stay home for mild symptoms.

For jobs that can take to the road on a laptop or phone, this will be a bit easier. For those who need to cook for or serve people, this will be more difficult without compensation.

For those who worked toll booths, this would have been hard, but now all tolls are electronic on the Beacon/Newburgh Bridge, and those jobs have been eliminated. Two weeks ago, we asked one toll booth collector if the state was finding them a new job. Their answer: “I have to find my own new job.”

Perhaps these workers can be paid to be trained to work computers that send out letters to chase people who lose the toll bill in the mail, and ultimately will be charged a fine. Then they can stay home when feeling mild symptoms and still get paid to work.

PS: If you are or were employed as a toll collector, please contact ALBB to let us know if your job was saved by way of being reassigned, or if you lost your job. What was the process?

New York Reverses New Mask Mandate For Kids Age 2-5 At Childcare + Camp After Backlash

Last week, Governor Cuomo mandated that all kids ages 2-5 wear face masks while at childcare, day camp and overnight camp. Some childcare advocates responded. On My Way Childcare Owner Peggy Fuentes responded: “We were incredibly disappointed and shocked when we got the guidelines last Wednesday that our children, after 14 months of being unmasked, are required now to be masked,” as reported by Spectrum News.

Initial guidelines can be seen here as reported on by Gothamist, which included: “The new policy applies to staffers and attendees at childcare programs, day camps and overnight camps. Under the rules, the unvaccinated should only remove their face coverings while eating, drinking, showering, swimming or sleeping. The guidance adds that ‘children/campers may also remove face coverings outdoors when they are unable to tolerate a face covering for the physical activity.’”

The Governor’s office stated the following regarding its almost immediate reversal of the guidelines: “Both agencies understand how difficult it is to require the youngest children to wear masks, and have jointly agreed to revise guidance allowing child care providers to continue the practices and protocols that have been in place since the start of the pandemic by encouraging, not requiring, children aged 2-5 to wear masks, effective immediately.”

It is not known if the people running these two agencies are currently raising children between the ages of 2-5.

Dutchess County’s Executive Marcus Molinaro issued the following statement on Monday evening: “Like too many decisions coming from the executive’s offices, forcing young children to wear masks never made any scientific sense. Dutchess was among the first local governments to call on New York State to correct this inconsistency and made clear we would not enforce it. I am heartened to see the State has listened to reason. We trust this will extend to all children in these safe settings. Clearly we are passed time NY end the declared state of emergency and allow local public health official do their jobs without heavy handed State interference.”

Back To School For Beacon Schools - In April! Increase To 4 Day Week In-Person For Those Who Are Comfortable

The “new normal” of this pandemic is to constantly shift. The Beacon City School District has been prepping the community with how they intend to expand their reopening from 2 days/week in-person to 4 days/week in-person for each school, including a full Remote option for those who wish to stay at home, and 1 day (usually Wednesday) of Remote Learning to accommodate Remote Learners and special programming, according to the Reopening Presentation by Beacon’s Superintendent, Dr. Landahl on March 5, 2021.

Remote free breakfast/lunch service delivered by bus will remain available to students studying at home in the Remote plan as well. Elementary Schools and the Middle School opened for 4 days on April 6, 2021. The High School will open 4 days on April 19th, 2021.

Reaction to the reopening has been mixed, as Dr. Landahl acknowledged that change creates anxiety, stating in an email to parents on February 26, 2021: “I understand that this has been a difficult year for everyone and that the idea of potential change brings anxiety and lots of questions. I will do my best to be thorough in our explanations of plans next week and as transparent as possible.”

While many parents want their children in school for socialization and learning styles, a routine has been established. One district parent explained to ALBB: “We are in a routine now with 2 days, and upgrading now feels like the first day of school, since my child has not been with the other half of the class in person all year.”
UPDATE: We checked in with this parent at the end of the first 4 day back to school, and this parent was very happy to have their child in school, stating: “I haven’t been able to get anything done in ages! I’ve changed my tune!”

While the back-to-school jitters are in full swing in April, other parents expressed relief at starting the in-person schedule, shifting the weighted responsibility of learning and stimulation back to the teachers, instead of worrying all day that not enough stimulation was happening. Some parents stated that they may: “Take a nap. Take a shower. Take a meeting. Go to work. Take a walk. Clean my kids rooms. Buy my child’s teacher a really great Teacher Appreciation Gift Card this year, or any day, maybe once per week.”

For parents who are teachers, the shift back to the classroom may have made their work day easier with familiarity, as splitting for remote has involved a learning curve of new skills and tasks.

How The 4 Day In Person Will Work For Beacon’s 4 Elementary Schools

Start time remains at 9:30am. Parents who wish to change from in-person to Remote or vice versa can do so. Dr. Landahl stressed the thought process behind opening now, and addressed safety guidelines as well as mental health: “We have not seen spread of the virus in our in-person schooling the entire year. We have seen an increase of mental health concerns among our students. Families are struggling under the current model.”

At the end of this first day, 4 new cases of COVID-19 had been found in 4 students, but the students had been studying at home, so the schools could remain open. Generally, this has been the pattern to COVID-19 cases in the district. This may change with increased in-person days, but safety measures have been put into place.

All Remote kids will stay with their current teacher, and an additional full-time teacher has been hired at each of the 4 elementary schools to help with Remote learners. Some kids who are returning may be with a different teacher in order to accommodate class sizes. Said Dr. Landahl: “All-remote students will have a morning session with their teacher every day, and then 2-3 additional instructional sessions with either their homeroom teacher or the remote support teacher. Some instructional sessions will be direct [screen] instruction and some will be live-streamed. We are not expecting students to be in front of a screen all day.”

Safety Measures Being Taken

The Beacon City School District says it is taking direction from American Association of Pediatrics, Dutchess County Health, as well as medical experts quoted in the media. Areas of focus include air quality, ventilation, outdoor learning, voluntary surveillance (ie voluntary rapid testing available at school), social distancing and use of barriers.

Ventilation Measures

Dr. Landahl said that MERV-13 filters were installed in unit ventilators in September 2020 and are replaced on schedule. He also said that portable HEPA filters will be added to each elementary classroom and ultimately every classroom. The elementary school buildings are quite old, so open windows are encouraged, as well as universal masking and outdoor tents and spaces. Some parents are in favor of children to experience learning in an outdoor environment anyway, pandemic or not.

Plastic Barriers At Desks

Classrooms that cannot achieve social distancing will have plastic barriers installed between students where they are learning, according to Dr. Landahl’s presentation. Some tables will be replaced with desks, and class size will range from 11-17 students. Plans for each classroom are made once the districts knows how many children will be in classrooms.

Services For Special Education

Since the pandemic, students with special needs have been studying at school in person 4 days per week, and have small class sizes in their own rooms. Students with special needs who attend school remotely do sign in with their school-issued Chromebook at designated times to in order to meet with their teacher and to receive the work that is posted. Students with Disabilities who attend school Remote Only receive related services remotely, and are accommodated in-person to the extent possible, according to documentation posted at the Beacon City School District’s website.

English Language Learners (ELL)

According to the Beacon City School District’s Equity Report Card, the number of children in the Hispanic/Latino community who attend Beacon schools has been steadily growing, and is second largest to the white community.

According to Dr. Landahl: “The Beacon City School District is committed to comprehensive high-quality, and culturally responsive instruction for ENL students. We will provide the required instructional Units of Study to all ELL’s based on their most recently measured English Language Proficiency Level during in-person or virtual instruction. We will complete the ELL identification process within 30 school days of the start of the school year for all students that enrolled during the COVID-19 school closure period as well as all students that enroll during the summer of 2020 and during the first 20 days of the 2020 -2021 school year.

“After the 20-day flexibility period, identification of ELL’s will resume for all students within the required 10 school days of initial enrollment as required by Commissioner’s Regulation Part 154. Our ENL Teachers will be responsible for providing services to our ENL students. Schedules will be set and students that are enrolled in the Remote Learning schedule will receive their services on-line according to the required minutes of instruction.”

Sign up here to opt children into rapid testing for COVID-19 on Wednesdays.

Beacon City School District Considers More In-Person Learning Time In Re-Opening Expansion Planning

As the national discussion begins about re-opening schools, Beacon City School District discusses how to open more. Federally and in New York State, schools have had some autonomy in how they open, making choices based on how Beacon teachers are feeling about being in-person, voluntary testing of students and staff, and other safety measures. Today (2/9/2021), Beacon’s Superintendent Dr. Matthew Landahl announced intentions to increase days and hours spent in the classroom, if families wanted it.

Beacon started as “the largest district in Dutchess County to open for in-person instruction for our students with our hybrid model,” stated Dr. Landahl to district families via email today (2/9/2021), when he introduced tentative plans to inch forward with adding hours and days to student’s in-person learning opportunities safely during the pandemic in the coming months.

“We have safely maintained our Hybrid and Remote models through many challenges the past many months without a long term closure of any of our schools.  None of this would have been accomplished without the efforts of everyone in our district and our community.”

Citing decreasing case rates and hospitalizations in Beacon and Dutchess County, Dr. Landahl put weight on the early process of District staff members being vaccinated, saying: “slowly but surely starting to get vaccinated through state or county programs.”

The First Step To Expanded Opening

The first step would be with Beacon High School, who, it is proposed, would be starting a full 8-period day for its Hybrid and Remote students on March 1, 2021.

The expansion to a 4-day in-person week is being studied, with the Remote option still being available to those who choose it. “While I cannot make promises that this will be possible for us,” Dr. Landahl stated in the email, “we are working to develop a plan that would start with Elementary students and then move up to Middle and possibly High School. We would need to maintain safety standards and will work with Health Department officials to see what’s possible.”

A Potential Timeline To Expanded School Opening

Dr. Landahl presented a timeline, which includes levels of communicating with families first, before choices are made:

• Late February: Town Halls and other communications with details of the plan.

• Late February/Early March: Families decide on in-person programming vs remote.

• Late March/Early April: Students begin to return to an in-person 4-day a week instructional model starting with Elementary students.  

For Weather, Beacon City School District Goes Remote Wednesday On A Tuesday - A Glimpse Into How That Works

The Beacon City School District was “the largest district in Dutchess County to open for in-person instruction for our students with our Hybrid model,” according to Beacon’s Superintendent Landahl to District families on Tuesday afternoon (2/9/2021), after a Snow Day Switcheroonie to avoid an actual Snow Day with no class meets at all.

Dr. Landahl continued: “We have safely maintained our Hybrid and Remote models through many challenges the past many months without a long term closure of any of our schools.”

Part of why this has been possible has been the District’s nimble and flexible Remote Learning Model that has been a work in progress since the first weeks that schools closed in 2020 for COVID-19. Normally correspondence like this is kept to District parents, who sludge through the day with their kids, nose to the grindstone.

This type of Snow Day Change is being shared it here in order to bring awareness to other districts who are researching how to swing in and out of in-person instruction as needed, as well as to employers so that they can see what life is like for their working parent employees who need to accommodate their children at the drop of a snowflake.

As background, since COVID-19, students are divided into two groups who go to school on different days: Blue Group and Gold Group. On Wednesdays, everyone stays home and does more Google Meets with their teachers (usually…this may depend on the teacher). On an actual Snow-Day-Not-A-Snow-Day, kids may also do “Specials” at home, like Gym, Music, Art, etc. This means that the house may sound like a stampede during remote “Gym” class, and crayons will suddenly be needed during “Art” class. Yay. All for this action versus no plan and staring at the wall or YouTube on a TV on the wall.

This time ‘round, we had a Snow-Day-Wednesday on a Tuesday. Plus, in order to help the Blue Group kids be in school as much as possible, who it sounds like have had Snow Days be on their schedule the most, they were granted permission to come in on a Wednesday.

It sounds head-spinning, and it is. But the Beacon community has been all-in to do our best to stay safe and healthy, and to use opportunities to learn in-person for those who are comfortable doing so.

The email from Dr. Landahl announcing the Tuesday schedule is as follows:

Due to expected winter weather tomorrow, the Beacon City School District will be shifting its schedule this week. Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9th, the district will operate on a Remote Wednesday schedule with buildings closed and district and school offices operating remotely as well. There will be no out of district transportation tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 10th, the district will operate on a Blue Hybrid In-Person Schedule. Meal delivery and the COVID-19 Surveillance testing will still take place on Wednesday as well.

We would not normally make a weather call this early but we wanted to let people know about this schedule change as early as possible and we were concerned about our Blue Hybrid students missing so much in-person time lately.

Childcare Grants Available For 75% Of Childcare Cost - But It's Complicated - Deadline February 16, 2021

Dutchess County has made available a Childcare Scholarship Grant to residents since 2020, and is promoting it again in 2021. There are requirements and limitations of the scholarships, which limit the application pool. According to the Beacon Recreation Director, Mark Price, who runs Beacon’s After School Program in Beacon’s 4 elementary schools, users of this scholarship have been slim. “I thought this would go like hot cakes, but it hasn’t.”

Beacon’s After School Program launched a few years ago, and has been a wild success. South Avenue Elementary has seen the most participation, and is also the school associated with the most families considered in a lower income bracket.

Last year, South Avenue’s After School Program had 25 kids. This year, it has 2. During the time of the mysterious sickness that had many people out sick in January - March 2020, before the pandemic was declared - South Avenue’s program easily had 7 of 25 kids out a day, with sick kids also in attendance. As a parent in the program, it was a rotating mess of sick kids and siblings.

This year, with school on a Hybrid schedule (2 days in school, 3 days at home), and with kids split between attending on Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday combos, the number of children in one room at the After School Program is significantly lower.

Is this reduction by family safety choice? Or is it for economic reasons? This answer is unknown. The Dutchess County scholarship is designed for families in the lower income bracket. However, families in (or formerly in) a higher income may also be squeezed financially, and cannot apply.

Additionally, the scholarship requires that the parents be working, or looking for work. This seems to exclude parents who are not working by choice or circumstance, but are overcome with children at home, which can contribute to mental health declines. Dual parent families at times make the choice early on to have one parent not work, as they don’t want to spend the childcare, which can contribute to a mental health decline for the parent staying at home.

Some Trips To Applying For The Childcare Scholarship, Or Childcare In General, During A Pandemic And Economic Squeeze

There is $180,000 allocated to all of Dutchess County, not including the City of Poughkeepsie. The City of Poughkeepsie has its own $90,000 to work with, according to the Dutchess County website.

Scholarship stipulations from Dutchess County include:

• 1. Parent(s) or guardian(s) must be working, looking for work or in school to be eligible, unless there are extenuating circumstances and a demonstrated COVID related need for childcare despite not meeting this criterion.

• 2. The child cannot be receiving any other childcare subsidy or scholarship (i.e., DCFS subsidy or Dyson Scholarship. If eligible for a subsidy from the DCFS, applicants must apply for funding from that program.

• 3. The child must be currently enrolled in a regulated childcare facility within Dutchess County.

This last bullet of #3 is in bold on the Dutchess County website. When people sign up for a childcare program, it is presumably because they can pay for it. For Beacon’s After School Program, people sign up online (this was at first a milestone, and now is a hurdle for if the website works, and becomes a race for who can operate the Internet and their registration system fast enough - I have bee known to simply drive to the building when the website opens). This year, however, for example, there are 2 kids (out of 25) in the South Avenue Program. So there is no race.

However, in signing up, the online message is very clear in the online sales process, that one must pay the tuition in full. For a family even in a higher income bracket during a pandemic, paying over $1,000 up front for 2 kids for one semester is difficult. It takes a personal phone call to ask the people at the Beacon Rec Center if a payment plan can be worked out. And the answer is: “Of course! We just want your kids in the program!”

People who are afraid or embarrassed to ask for a payment plan or payment deferral may not make this phone call. And thus not register for the program, and not apply. And then maybe not apply for this scholarship from Dutchess County. Dutchess County requires that kids are already enrolled in a daycare program. If the family can’t pay initially, they won’t be enrolled in the childcare program.

As for requirement #1: this seems to exclude families or single parent families where the main caregiver is not working. Unknown how this works for a single parent family who would then need to prove that the other parent is looking for work. At times, communication breakdowns can happen between parents, making this a daunting task.

Dutchess County is aggressive on creating mental health initiatives. Primary caregivers who are not working and not eligible for this program may be suffering at home, under the weight of their children suddenly at home all day with very little outside stimulation provided by programs such as childcare facilities who are required to follow strict safety guidelines, which parents trust.

How Dutchess County’s Scholarship Works

Beacon’s After School Program is promoting the scholarships. Their email to previously enrolled families was:

“Scholarships are being awarded for the balance of the academic calendar year by a random selection process to low and moderate-income families. The funds will cover 75% of the tuition for each child, paid directly to the childcare facility. Families will be responsible for 25% of the tuition. Low- and moderate-income Dutchess County families with children enrolled in a regulated childcare program are eligible to apply.”

Some of Dutchess County’s language on the application is as follows:

“Dutchess County and the City of Poughkeepsie received funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These CDBG COVID (CV) funds are to be used to prevent, prepare for, or respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

“With schools not opening in their traditional formats, families have been challenged with the unprecedented need for childcare for their school aged children to allow parents and guardians the ability to work, look for work or attend school. The intent of this scholarship fund is to fill the gap between the number of days students will be in school and those days where students are not in school. Families are encouraged to consider their natural resources and supports and to request the minimal number of days needed so this funding can be maximized”

Income requirements are listed here on the Dutchess County application. If you do not meet these requirements, consider reaching out with questions on if an amendment can be made.