Beacon City School District Presents Plans On How It Will Stay Open After A Successful First Half

The Administration Building of the Beacon City School District.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

Superintendent Matthew Landahl addressed families in the district Wednesday evening via webinar call about how the district would be moving forward in the second half of the 2020/2021 school year. Beacon has been one of the only districts in the region to begin and remain on a Hybrid model, which means that kids can chose to either be Hybrid (attending school 2 days per week on a Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday rotation), or be 100% Remote. Students with Special Needs are in school 4 days per week. All students are home on Wednesdays for Remote Learning.

The part-time in-person model for Hybrid was decided upon in order to comply with social distancing requirements set by the state. With the school’s population, as compared with other smaller, sometimes private schools, this needed to be done, Dr. Landahl has said consistently throughout the school year.

Dr. Landahl discussed the latest on staff vaccinations; Dutchess County guidance on changes in what is required to quarantine should a student or staff member test positive for COVID-19; decisions on when schools go remote temporarily; and the introduction of the voluntarily testing program intended to get a read on positivity rate in the district for asymptomatic students or staff.

Teacher & Staff Vaccinations

Dr. Landahl said that unlike another vaccination situation he worked through as the Principal of Greer Elementary School in Charlottesville, VA during the H1N1 period, vaccination are selective and not made possible through school roll-outs.

He told A Little Beacon Blog: “They did mass vaccinations by school at the time. The current vaccine is not set up for children. The vaccine right now is definitely being distributed on a very individual basis for 1B people, meaning every individual has to set up their own appointments. I dont have the ability to organize a vaccination event in the district for district staff and faculty. Vaccinations will be administered to staff in medical facilities when staff makes an appointment at such a facility.”

Governor Cuomo announced on Monday (1-11-2021) that teachers (along with other group types of people) are able to be vaccinated now, in accordance with Governor Cuomo’s prioritized roll-out he designed. However, according to the Governor, due to federal supply levels, New York State does not have that many vaccine doses, so the opportunity to get vaccinated may be slow. All people are instructed to call their health care provider to get their vaccine, or select pharmacies who offer it, like CVS, and appointments are required.

When A Required Quarantine Is Needed If Exposure To Student or Staff

When a student or staff tests positive, the district communicates directly with the person to find out if they were already isolating, or if they were in a school building. Dr. Landahl said that based on feedback from these contact tracing learnings, most students were already isolating at home, or were already 100% Remote. If the parents or caregivers were aware of someone else in the house who tested positive, families for a large part kept their children home.

Dr. Landahl indicated that based on feedback from families throughout the results of contact tracing the last half of the year, settings such as being in a gym class together, or other wide space, might be too broad and should not trigger a quarantine for people near the positive person. Dutchess County, it seems, has relaxed its guidance, which Dr. Landahl included during his presentation:

“Dutchess County Department of Behavioral and Community Health (DBCH) will work with schools to determine the specific exposures within the classroom and school settings by identifying only those individuals who must be considered ‘close contacts’ as subject to the mandatory precautionary quarantine. The definition of close contact includes spending 10 minutes or more with a confirmed COVID-19 case while standing within 6 feet of the individual. Wearing cloth masks does not impact exposure.”

Dr. Landahl clarified that simply wearing a mask while standing within 6 feet of someone did not excuse a person from needing to quarantine if they were within 6 feet of the individual for 10 minutes or more.

Dutchess County guidance continued: “DBCH may consider other factors including virus strain, as part of the case investigation to determine the risk of exposure on the particular circumstances of the exposure. DBCH and/or New York State Department Of Health (NYSDOH) reserve right to issue and enforce mandatory quarantine orders for classroom-based exposure incidents when necessary.”

BSCD’s Goal Is To Stay Open - Uses These Factors To Decide On Going Temporarily Remote

Feedback from parents and caregivers during the meeting via the chat session in Zoom was mixed between wanting the district to close and go Remote only; fearing that the district would close and go Remote only; liking and approving of the current system; and wanting the district to open for more days during the week.

Dr. Landahl emphasized that in New York State, the decision to close temporarily or full is up to each district. There is no formula for closure. While Governor Cuomo had been using color codes before, Dr. Landahl said, the Governor had not been referring to them lately. Dr. Landahl said that the state and the county do look at hospitalization rates to indicate a direction, and that Dutchess County may have other information that may trigger guidance to a particular district. Otherwise, there is no formula or requirement for closure.

From the presentation, factors that impact the decision to go remote include:

• Time needed to conduct contact tracing. If the knowledge of a positive case happens late and night, and there is indication that exposed people are involved, a temporary closure could happen, simply to give time the next day to reach out to individuals, and reduce risk of further unknown/known exposure.

• Number of people quarantining. If a large number of staff is quarantining, for instance, it would be impossible to keep a building open to function.

• "Most of the confirmed cases we get now, the individual has been out of school for a number of days,” Dr. Landahl stated in his (these) bullet points.

• Department of Health. If the county issues guidance based on information they have.

• State guidance or regulations. If New York State issues guidance.

Voluntary Testing

The Beacon City School District has voluntarily signed up to participate in the ability for staff and students to get tested for free at a location at one of the buildings, the first may be at the Beacon High School. This is a voluntary offering and not required by students to undergo. Parents will be able to be with their children during the test. The first students to be offered it will be Hybrid students, who go into school buildings, and then depending on usage of the tests, may be expanded to Remote, Dr. Landahl said.

The purpose of the testing is to get a better picture of if there is an asymptomatic positive cases in the buildings. These tests will be the “rapid” tests, which have been talked about as not being as accurate as the PCR lab tests. Dr. Landahl said that from his reading, the rapid tests are more prone to give false negatives, and that if it delivers a positive response, he said, the result will be taken into consideration.

This may start the week of January 25, 2021, targeting the days of Mondays and Wednesdays as testing opportunities, which would be open to all ages from the Hybrid in-person group. A testing center may be set up at Beacon High School, either inside or outside. A Virtual Consent form will be sent out next week, and FAQs and a video as well, said Dr. Landahl, to help people understand the offering.

Dr. Landahl mentioned how long the line was at Pulse MD when he got tested one day, which has been consistent with A Little Beacon Blog’s findings as well, since before Thanksgiving, which is when lines at several urgent cares filled up with people who wanted to merge households over the holidays. The closet location to get a free test for Beaconites is Bear Mountain, despite the marketing that that Governor Cuomo does that indicates getting a free test is easy.

A Little Beacon Blog doesn’t usually make recommendations, but in our experience, PM Pediatrics continues to be the best choice for testing kids (adults who accompany them can also get tested; walk-ins accepted), Caremount for adult testing, and patients of Sun River Health System (previously HRH Health Care on Henry Street in Beacon) offers testing to their patients only (no walk-ins, and appointments are needed).

Local District Response To Closures - Up To Districts, Not To State Standardized

Chatter amoung some parents in social media has been that the school will be forced to close for some reason. Dr. Landahl answered that as of now, and as of the whole time during the pandemic after the schools opened for the new 2020/2021 year, the decision to close has been at each district level, which indicates that local communities can know how things are working, and make safe decisions. He stated that he appreciated that local decision ability.

Most Cases Are Coming From Home, Not School

A question from a participant on the call was if the students were safer doing 100% Remote Only. Dr. Landahl stated that he believes the opposite to be true, that children are safer in the schools where social distancing is enforced, from their classroom to the cafeteria to gym to recess. At home, parents and caregivers can get lax.

This writer can attest - as a person who got COVID-19 - it walked through my front door at home - not from the school, but from us not recognizing the symptoms of an achy back - where it could have been picked up from a number of places (office building, gas station, who knows).

Fortunately. My husband is tested regularly for free by his job, and that is how we knew we had positive cases in the house. When we learned of his positive result, I kept my children home and out of school, even before they got tested. Once they got tested and one positive result came back for 1 of my 3 children, they had already been isolating, and our case did not warrant a closure of the school. It did trigger a robo-call from Dr. Landahl, however :) (no one’s names are ever mentioned, but we knew it was us - we made the robo-call!).

The school nurse called to check on us regularly, and did the math on our quarantine release date, if our symptoms had stopped, which they did.

BCSD Superintendent To Host Zoom Town Hall Call On Latest Reopening Details 1/13/2021 7pm

Beacon City School District’s Superintendent Landahl will host a digital Town Hall on Tuesday, January 13, 2021 at 7pm on the latest strategies moving forward for the second half of the school year, as the district maintains its Open status via a Hybrid/Remote model.

For the entire school year so far, students have been able to elect if they want to attend school 2 days per week, or to remain at home remotely 100%. For everyone, Wednesday is an at-home day, where a longer day of programming delivered via Google Class Rooms is planned.

There have been several COVID-19 cases of students in the district, namely at the high school and middle school, with a few at the elementary schools. For the most part, students who test positive for COVID-19 had already been isolating, and some were already in the Remote program, so were never at the school. Buildings have rarely closed, but if the student or staff had been at school near other people, then a Remote model takes place for a select number of days, announced by the Superintendent.

Dr. Landahl has emailed the district families with, what seems to be, each case reported into the school, and the decision to keep that particular building open or closed. That call seems to come in within a day or two of when the district learns about the case, as per Dr. Landahl’s framing of the message.

During tonight’s Town Hall, Dr. Landahl will address the following interest areas, as well as attempt to take questions via Chat in the Zoom setup. The link to the Zoom call has been emailed to parents, and the latest correct link is on his email dated today, 1/13/2021.

• Latest on staff vaccinations

• County guidance on close contacts/contact tracing/quarantining

• Decisions on when schools go remote temporarily

• Outline of our surveillance testing program

Free Breakfast And Lunch Meals Continue For Rest Of School Year

Today, the Beacon City School District, by way of Food Services Director Karen Pagano, announced that breakfast and lunch meals will continue to be free for the rest of the school year. The first time this happened was made possible from funding from the USDA.

For Remote families (both Hybrid and 100% Remote), there are 2 ways to get the meals: Delivery and Pickup. Both require signup, but if families are already signed up, they do not need to re-enroll. There have been benefits to being signed, including partnerships with outside organizations, like Fareground, who use the bus delivery and pickup service to get programming materials such as Meal Kits to students.

Parents and caregivers who work from home are encouraged to sign up for Delivery or Pickup. If they think they can pickup, but in reality missed pickups due to work, parents should signup for Delivery. Many parents have reported having work meetings scheduled during their official pickup times, making it difficult to get the food. The bus system has worked well, and requires advance coordination and a person at home to receive the meals. Sign up for Delivery or Pickup here at the Beacon City School’s website.

Beacon High School Has Positive COVID Case - And The District Is On It With Support And Contact Tracing

Beacon City School District Superintendent Matt Landahl robo-called and emailed district families today (Wednesday) morning with the news that they learned today that an individual in the Beacon High School had tested positive for COVID-19, and was currently isolated. The individual had not been at the building since Friday, and because of health privacy laws, further information about the person will remain private.
Editor’s Note: Speaking for the community by saying we wish the person and their family health, strength, and compassion.

"Today is one of our remote learning days," said Dr. Landahl via email to district families, "and we are spending the day contact tracing." Wednesday is the day that the entire district is at home learning with teachers. This is the longest Remote Day for all students, where they may have several classes throughout the day, versus one Morning Meeting in the morning on regular Remote Days. The Free Remote Meals had just been delivered to front doors of those who signed up for the delivery option, and otherwise, the Remote day was humming along.

Beacon opened and remains in the Hybrid Model, which means students can opt-in for 2 days of learning in person at school, and 3 days for learning at home (with Wednesday as the day everyone is home learning). "When we consider closing a school temporarily due to COVID-19," continued Dr. Landahl via email to the community, "our plan is to close individual schools that are affected and not the entire district unless there is a health need to do so or we are guided to do so by the Department of Health."

Children or adults who were in contact with the person will be notified first by school staff, and then by the New York State Contact Tracing program with instructions on quarantining and potential testing for COVID-19 (you can find testing information here).

"If you are not contacted, then you will not need to quarantine," Dr. Landahl stated. "We will work tirelessly on contact tracing and communicating updates to the community and individual families who are affected by this."

Schools in the region have had over 150 positive cases as of October 8, 2020, as reported by the Hudson Valley Post. Yesterday, Newburgh Free Academy announced that 1 individual had tested positive, but had not attended school and was in Remote Learning only, therefore, school would not be closed for that building. They have had a total of 5 students test positive since the New York State Report Card Dashboard has been launched, which have all been Off Site, according to the Dashboard.

Other schools in the region have reported positive cases, including Wappingers Central, Middletown, Newburgh Central, Arlington Central, and others. Indicated on the Report Card Dashboard is if a positive case of a student or staff was located On Site or Off Site, as some cases may occur in people who are Remote Learning at home and were not in a school building, but are included on the Report Card.

Dr. Landahl included ways to get tested:
”A list of testing sites can be found on the Dutchess County Health Website (please note, the testing sites can change from day-to-day and week-to-week): (https://www.dutchessny.gov/Departments/DBCH/2019-Novel-Coronavirus.htm) You may also visit the ‘New York State Find a Test Site Near You’ web page: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-test-site-near-you Once you enter a zip code, a list/map view of the nearest test sites will become available. “

So Your Child Has The Sniffles, And Is Hybrid, And It's Cold/Allergy Season. What Do You Do?

Beacon’s school district is one of the only that opened with a Hybrid model, meaning, kids in elementary, middle, and high school could opt to go to school for 2 days, and stay home on the Remote Learning plan for 3 days a week. Children in Special Needs programming can go 4 days. Beacon took many precautions with opening safely and maintaining sanitized rooms, which included investing in more disinfecting equipment and personnel, dividing the classes in half in order to reduce the class sizes to comply with state social distancing requirements, enforcing masks in the building (with breaks), and using outside spaces for learning or more breaks.

But as we are in cold/flu/allergy season, the sniffles are bound to happen. What do you do in a pandemic, when requirements exist about how to treat symptoms you may or may not have kept your child home for before?

Step 1: You call your school nurse.
Step 2: Consult with the Beacon City School District’s (BCSD) website, where they have a Reopening section with several documents, including a Protocol for Symptomatic Students or Staff chart that explains what to do.
Step 3: Decide if you are going to visit your primary care physician, or an urgent care, or a free testing site. This article evaluates all of these options.

Symptoms: What Are They?

Many symptoms exist for COVID-19, and you should always refer to New York State’s guidelines, the CDC, and the BCSD’s website for the latest.

For guidance on how to treat a child with symptoms related to COVID-19, like chills, a cough, a sore throat or nausea, the Beacon City School District has posted a flow-chart that explains it. The flow-chart says that if a student has symptoms, then the student is to be isolated and sent or kept home. From there, they should seek medical attention and/or get tested for COVID-19.

This means, the child can see a doctor to be evaluated, and at the doctor's discretion, come away with a note from the doctor saying that they don't think it COVID-19 and can return to school, or that the doctor recommends getting the test.

To return to school, there are a few options:

• Get a note from a medical provider. Says Beacon’s head Nurse Aakjar: “The note from the Doctor must provide an alternate diagnosis (as per NYS requirements),” or

• Provide a negative COVID-19 test of the RT-PCR kind (meaning, the one that gets sent out to a lab, vs the same-day rapid test), or

• Wait 10 days from the onset of symptoms.

If siblings of the sniffler are also sniffly, they are also asked to stay home until symptoms are over. If the sniffles passes through a house with multiple children, you could be looking at a long time of staying at home, if you are a Hybrid family. It's OK. If this had been done prior to the pandemic and with playdates and sleepovers, it might have reduced the amount of stomach bugs and other viruses from being passed around anyway.

If the student tests positive for COVID-19, then the school nurse notifies the local health department. Close contacts to positive cases can return to school after a 14-day quarantine period.

Testing - Where To Go

This is where things can get creative, as there are several variables and costs to consider, including office visit charge, testing charge, scheduling time, and if computers for new telahealth visits are working that day.

Dutchess County put their list of testing sites here. Three of those are evaluated below. Where you go might depend upon your insurance, if you have insurance. If you do not have insurance, Excel Urgent Care is accepting patients and submitting to the CARES ACT on their behalf.

If you do not have insurance, there are no state-sponsored free testing sites in Dutchess County or Orange County at this time, according to a representative from the New York State Department Of Health, and confirmed by Colleen T. Pillus, Communications Director with Dutchess County Executive Office. However, Colleen does encourage people to visit Dutchess County’s list of testing sites, as an insurance breakdown is provided for each one.

Counties that do have free testing sites for non-insured (or insured, if you want to avoid paying whatever your insurance company will still bill you), include: Albany, Binghamton, Erie, Nassau, Suffolk County, Niagara, Rochester, Rockland, and Utica. Visit covid19screening.health.ny.gov to complete a Screening questionnaire, then call the NYS COVID-19 hotline at 1-888-364-3065 to make your appointment. Bring proof of ID and confirmation number.

ALBB’s Review Of Urgent Cares

PM Pediatrics - Hopewell Junction
The easiest urgent care to go for Beaconites is PM Pediatrics. Possibly because they are dedicated to pediatrics, there are less people going there. Also, maybe it’s the area’s best kept secret. Got a splinter and a very upset child who won’t let you touch it? PM Pediatrics has a special splinter puller. Need stitches removed? They can do that too. All from friendly, kid-decorated offices.

At PM Pediatrics, your child can walk-in to be seen by a doctor, and tested at the same time. Or, the doctor may decide that a test is not necessary, and send you on your way with a note. A telahealth visit prior to the visit is not necessary. The test will be done inside their building.

Pulse MD - Poughkeepsie
During the 10/13/2020 Board of Education Meeting, Beacon’s Superintendent mentioned a partnership that BCSD has with the urgent care Pulse MD. According to BCSD’s head nurse, Hannah Aakjar, RN, this is a line of scheduling communication with the District that can be used by any District family, especially those who are new to the District and don’t have a primary care physician yet. Once you connect with your school nurse, your school nurse can set up a virtual telahealth visit with Pulse MD.

A text will be sent to your phone, and you fill out insurance information first. For the 2 times I used it, the telahealth connection did not work, and a phone call was had between myself and the medical professional about my children who had sniffles. They recommended a COVID-19 test.

COVID-19 testing is done on site, but it is in Poughkeepie and averages 300 people per day, for a 2 hour line in the car. Testing is done by nurses outside, rain or shine, and the nurse, in our experience, was so nice and helpful when administering the test, despite the rain that day. The line, however, is real. Go to the bathroom prior, and bring snacks. Or go to PM Pediatrics for walk-in service with no call-ahead scheduling.

Excel Urgent Care - Fishkill

Beaconties have been visiting Excel Urgent Care in Fishkill for their sniffle evaluations and testing. Some waiting of at least an hour in the parking lot may be required, but depends on the day. Excel Urgent Care is accepting people with no insurance, and are filing to programs on the patient’s behalf. Reservations encouraged, but walk-ins welcome.

Sun River Health (formerly HRHCare Beacon)
An appointment for testing is required, but not a telahealth visit. The cost of the test is covered by Sun River Health for those who do not have insurance. This is not an urgent care, but is a resource you should know about for primary care physicians, women’s medical issues, and other medical needs.
6 Henry Street
Beacon, NY
(845) 831-0400

Caremount Medical Urgent Care - Poughkeepsie

We wrote about testing at Caremount Medical Urgent Care here. Being a prior patient of their system is not required, and walk-in service is available. Depending on the wait, you may be waiting in the car for testing or to be called to your appointment. Testing will be done inside the building or from your car.

Primary Care Physician

Being seen by your primary care physician is ideal. But sometimes, their schedules do not allow for this. Which is why a trip to PM Pediatrics may nip your wait time in the bud.

If your child has conditions like asthma cough, causing them to cough without being sick, then a note from your primary care physician is needed to be kept on file with your child’s school. Says Nurse Aakjar: “As far as getting a note for students with chronic conditions that would cause a cough, sneeze or sniffles, this would elate the students from having to stay home and receive a note each time they are having an ‘episode’. We also would accept physician notes that state if a child has a chronic condition that may cause diarrhea or headaches (ie. IBS, lactose intolerance, anxiety, migraines...) to also eliminate the student from having to be sent home.”

This is a good time to make sure your child has an inhaler in the office if needed, and to get the note and prescription from your doctor.

Nurse Hannah Aakjar, RN encourages families and caregivers to reach out and call the nurses at the schools: "If anyone has questions, they could reach out to myself or to their school nurse. We have spoken to many families since reopening and have learned a great deal along the way. This is a learning process for all of us but we are happy that we are able to help families navigate through this very unusual and trying time."

Wishing your family health and safety.

"Meal Kits" To Come With Free Remote Meals For Beacon Kids - Kitchen Staples Included - Sign Up Required!

Remote Learning Life just got a little more enriched with the delivery of fresh food and Meal Kits to prepare it for kids and families who signed up for Beacon’s Free Remote Meals by Friday, October 9, 2020. Kits will include items such as a child-safe knife and cutting board, olive oil, a seasonal recipe and a recipe binder. This initiative has been made possible through local organizations in a collaborative project of the Beacon City School District, Common Ground Farm, Land to Learn, Fareground and Green Teen Beacon to ensure that all students have access to fresh food both in school and at home.

To get this Meal Kit, you need to have signed up by Friday, October 9, 2020, which you can do online here. If you have already signed up, you are good. You don’t need to sign up again for this special kit.

Says Erika Rincon, Beacon’s Farm to School Coordinator who works for Common Ground Farm about the program: “Each month, we will highlight our Vegetable of the Month by including the vegetable, a simple recipe, and fun facts! We will also supply families with video demonstrations and a link to participate in a recipe taste test after you have made the dish! In October, we will be featuring kale from Common Ground Farm!”

Kids are used to the Vegetable of the Month concept, as it was incorporated into the school menu, and at South Avenue and possibly other schools, playful and interactive charts were posted about it in the school cafeteria.

October 9th is also the deadline to sign up to have remote meals delivered to your home. Once you have signed up to receive a free breakfast/lunch meal, and you know that you will have trouble picking it up from one of the Beacon destinations, you are able to sign up for Delivery by school bus. Don’t be shy. Just sign up now for delivery so that they can organize (deadline October 9, 2020). Delivery begins on October 21, 2020.

If you are reading this after October 9, 2020, and have not yet signed up for Free Meals, you can do that at any time by clicking here.

Beacon City Schools Coordinate Bus Delivery For Free Lunch Meals For Remote Learners - Sign Up Required

When in a pandemic, and when the USDA is funding your local lunches and breakfasts for kids who need it, sometimes getting access to that food can be hard. The Beacon City School District has gone to great lengths to prepare food that can be warmed up at home for kids meals, in addition to produce and packaged snacks. While the meals area available in 5 different locations on a Wednesday between a certain daytime time slot, getting to that food can be difficult for parents and caregivers who are working or unavailable during that time window. Therefore, the district has organized a bus delivery system to bring the food to the people.

Piloted in the spring when this pandemic first started, the district has had some practice at this delivery method. When the federal government funded all meals to public school districts including Beacon, lots of kids are now eligible for the free food, which can include pizza slices, chicken nuggets, and even a cucumber/tomato/feta salad. Not to mention: Scooby Snacks.

Delivery begins October 21, 2020, but signup is required by October 9, 2020. Don’t delay, sign up now. It’s easy and involves a Google Form. Delivery is every Wednesday starting at 10am, and someone must be home to receive it.

Pickups for meals is also on Wednesday at different locations, like South Avenue or Rombout. The receiver simply needs to select which location they want to pickup. Or, if they are opting for delivery, the form that needs to be filled out will take them off the pickup list.

At this time, opting into getting a free meal is easy. One should not not do it because they are saving a place for someone else. There is plenty of food. If you are in need, or if your kids miss school pizza, opt-in.

Details on the free meals program for all kids through December 31, 2020 are here.

All Beacon City School Students Eligible For Free Breakfast and Lunch Through December 31, 2020

As families prepare for the first day of school on Monday, a new development was emailed to parents and caregivers from Karen Pagano, the Director of Food and Nutrition for Beacon City School District.

Big School Meal announcement! All Beacon City School Students will be eligible for Free Breakfast and Lunch meals for all school days through December 31, 2020. This can be very exciting for kids, as they see their old meals from school, like School Pizza and School Chicken Nuggets, which seem to have special properties that cannot be duplicated in store-bought meals. In addition to School Scooby Snacks, and other items that show up in the prepared meals, like fresh broccoli. The financial assistance this gives to parents and caregivers is a given.

Kids In Hybrid Schedule

Students in Hybrid schedule will have Breakfast and Lunch meals available in their School buildings on the days they are attending classes. To help with social distancing, kids will be eating meals in their classrooms.

Kids In Remote Learning Schedule
(And On Home Days If On Hybrid Schedule)

Meals for kids during Remote Learning Days will be available for pick up at select schools by reservation only.
A google form for Remote learning days meals will sent in a separate email.

Click here to fill out the Google Form to schedule meal-pickups.

The form needs to be completed by September 14th at 10am to be guaranteed meal availability on September 16th. Meal orders placed after September 14th will be processed for distribution the following week. Meals will continue to be prepared for you each week until the receiver cancels. There is a No-Milk option, if one wants to opt to not be given the cartons of milk. The milk is usually 1%, and if a family doesn’t drink that version (we drink Whole, for instance), a lot of milk goes down the drain.

How Is This Possible?

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) extended the Free Meals Program, as they did at the end of the school year, and for the summer meals program. A Little Beacon Blog wrote about how to apply for the Free Meals Program if a person was still unemployed and in financial hardship.

Those who had applied for the program did receive a random financial gift on their P-EBT card. While this current extension of the Free Meals Program requires no application, people may still want to apply for the Free Meals Program for 2021, and just in case New York State deposits another $420 of grocery money onto the P-EBT card.

Free Lunch Program Continues - New Signups For Those Unemployed Encouraged Now

When the announcement of the free $420 food credit to be used at stores was announced by Governor Cuomo, ALBB blogged about it, and then reached out to Beacon City School’s Director of Food and Nutrition, Karen Pagano, to ask how this works with the school’s Free Lunch Program, which she was encouraging people to sign up for back in the spring of the pandemic. People did, who were unexpectedly unemployed due to the pandemic. As of today, 650 people are enrolled in the Free Lunch Program.

As the ReOpening has been happening, some people have returned to work, but not everyone. Can people still apply for the 2020/2021 Free Lunch Program? “Yes,” says Karen. Because government services can be a little complicated, we are going to let Karen explain how it works in her words:

Each District submitted to SNAP or NYS a list of Students enrolled as of March 15, 2020, that qualified for free meals in our district either with:

• Income application

• Homeless status

• Directly certified through SNAP or Financial need based Medicaid.

We submitted this file back in May or June 2020. This was the list used for eligibility for the P-EBT funding you wrote about here.

We do not get notified if families have received the P-EBT cards, so if a family has questions about the card, they need to follow up with the numbers listed in your other article: NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance at 1-833-452-0096 or by email at otda.sm.eisp.PEBT@otda.ny.gov

Meal eligibility for Income applicants from the previous 2019-2020 School year will continue until a new application is submitted, or until mid October 2020 with no new application submitted.

Meal applications for the 2020-2021 School year are available on our District website for parents to download and print a copy - fill out manually and send back to the Food Service Office either electronically or in hard copy. We will also be sending copies home with students on the first day of school if they are attending building classes. We are looking to do a mass mailing for those that are not attending in school classes to get the applications out.

We are in the works for setting up online applications through a program called myschoolapps (students and parents use this now to fill breakfast/lunch money on for their kids to use at school - it’s the digital form of “lunch money”) but we will not be able to have this up and running until likely the first week of September as the company supporting this function is at the moment overwhelmed.

Families should still apply for free meals even if they are not attending in-building classes as we will be preparing grab and go meals with distribution for those enrolled families through a drive-by-pick-up on Wednesdays at BHS and RMS starting on September 16th. Parents will need to sign up for this service through a new addition to MySchoolBucks platform and that sign up should be available by the end of August.

We will be preparing these grab and go complete Nutritious Breakfasts and Lunches for the 3-day Remote Learning coverage as well as 5-day for all remote learning eligible students all with Wednesday distribution, times TBD.

We have certified about 650 students for Free meals who qualify for SNAP for the 2020-2021 year and have sent emails or if no email is on file, hard copy notification to those families about their continuation of free meals in the School year.

We will continue to update this download from NYS SNAP recipients on a monthly basis to capture newly added students receiving SNAP and therefore automatically eligible for free meals.

How Will The Non-Free, Paying School Lunch Program Work?

Currently, the Beacon City School District uses MySchoolBucks.com to handle money on kid’s meal cards. Parents log in and make deposits onto the cards whenever they want to. But how will this work on the Hybrid or All Remote Learning plan for parents who do not qualify for the Free Lunch Program? Karen answers:

“You would pre-order each week - all or nothing. You get 3 or 5 breakfast and 3 or 5 lunches (this will depend on if your child is in school 2 days a week or all remote). If your child is in school 2 days a week, they can also get breakfast as a grab-and-go bring into classroom, and lunch which will be pre-ordered in the morning with choices for meals that will be delivered into the classrooms. Both are optional - both are free for free qualifying students and payment necessary again on account with www.myschoolbucks.com for paying students who do not qualify for the Free Lunch Program. No money at school please.”

Governor Cuomo Reverses Course On Summer School - Encouraged By County Executive Molinaro

After Governor Cuomo announced that school would be closed for the rest of the year, County Executive Marcus Molinaro responded on May 1, 2020 with a letter to the governor, agreeing with the decision, but urging the Governor to reconsider for children with special needs for the upcoming summer. County Executive Marcus Molinaro has a child with Autism, and responded by sending a letter to the Governor, Chancellor Rosa, and Interim Commissioner Tahoe, by stressing an urgency to keep summer school programs open to in-person learning interactions for children with special needs.

An excerpt of his letter, which was distributed to the media via press release, is below:

Throughout this process, so many of our schools and teachers have gone above and beyond to provide quality education during these difficult times. Many students with special needs have adapted well to the new paradigm of remote learning and are finding success utilizing Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms. Other students are struggling with the hands-on attention of teachers and specialists. For many special education students, the most daunting challenge is overcoming the stress of change and inconsistency. That is why a careful and student-centric approach is paramount as we move forward.

Since schools were closed, parents have played an even greater role in their education. This was a challenge for all parents, however, for parents of special needs students, the task could be even more daunting. The technology we all relied on to make remote learning possible, needed modifications and innovative adaptions to make them more accessible. Not all platforms are compatible with critical assistive technologies, nor are they always conductive to educating students with very specific needs. Parents and teachers have been asked to do a lot of heavy lifting to ensure their children and students are receiving a high-quality education.

Special education students must have access to services throughout the summer. These services will help support students and their families bridge the gap until schools are once again able to provide a more conventional education. Not all special education students will want to take advantage of services throughout the summer, however, for those who do, they must be available.

Stepping out just a minute here…

Stepping out of my role as a reporter for this article for a moment, and into that of a parent who is doing Distance Learning for two children ages 8 and 10 (this doesn’t count the 3yo toddler who is constantly disrupting and needing to go potty), I can tell you that Distance Learning is extremely difficult. Extremely. A large part of a child’s life is social interaction, and the interaction they get with their teacher (assuming they have a good relationship). Not having that has been sorely missed by my children. Completing “simple” assignments, like 7 math problems on two pages, takes 1 hour. One painful hour of bodies collapsing onto the floor, throwing pencils, hating parents. I have resisted writing about it, so as to not offend our teachers and administration who are trying so hard and are equally traumatized, some of whom are teaching and preparing curriculum with their own children at home, doing their own Distance Learnings.

Ok, back into reporter mode.

On May 21, 2020, while the new children’s risk of COVID-19 (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS) similar to Kawasaki Disease) was being discussed, Governor Cuomo decided to close in-person teaching opportunities for summer school, stating: “Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced summer school will be conducted through distance learning this year to help reduce the risk of spread.”

On may 22, 2020, Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro wrote a second letter in response to the announcement of summer school closure:

Dear Governor Cuomo: (crossed out to hand-written in blue marker to address “Andrew”),

As plans to reopen and re-imagine New York State's schools and summer distance-learning services are contemplated and developed, it is of utmost importance that the needs of special education students and their families are thoughtfully and carefully considered. Efforts underway by your office, as well as those of the Board of Regents, New York State Education Department, and our 700 public school districts, must incorporate input from special education teachers and parents of students with special needs. Although you recently announced that in-person summer school will not go on, it remains critical to offer needed services to special education students throughout the summer.

I expressed my concerns related to this issue in a letter sent on the first of this month to Chancellor Rosa, Interim Commissioner Tahoe, and your office. Since then, many others have voiced similar concerns and have yet to be addressed.

The letter continued to repeat the first letter. On June 8th, the Dutchess Business Notification Network reported that Governor Cuomo signed an Executive Order to allow summer school to continue in person: “Notwithstanding any prior Executive Order to the contrary, special education services and instruction required under Federal, state or local laws, rules, or regulations, may be provided in person for the summer term in school districts. Any district providing such services in person must follow State and Federal guidance.

County Executive Molinaro’s response sent via press release was: “Access to in-person special education services throughout the summer is critical to so many with disabilities and their families, this year more than ever. The school year has been wrought with stress, anxiety and disruption caused by Coronavirus and special education students have felt the impact most profoundly. Access to in-person services will provide the needed support to overcome those challenges, smoothing the transition to a new school year in the fall. I’m grateful Governor Cuomo has taken this important step and I am happy to have worked with Jim Malatras and his staff to make this a reality. This is indeed good news for so many families across Dutchess County and New York State. There is little question we can make a real difference in the lives of these young people, when we work together and ThinkDIFFERENTLY!”

NYC Mayor de Blasio Announces School Closure For Year - Gov. Cuomo Says Not Mayor's Authority At This Time - Wants Multi-State Agreement

During a press briefing early on Saturday morning, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he had decided to keep schools closed through the year. The New York Post reported on the announcement, saying that the mayor characterized the decision as “‘painful’ but said keeping the schools closed is the way to keep the coronavirus from spreading.”

When asked about this decision hours later during New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefing on 4/11/2020, the governor answered that no decision on school closures had been made, and that at this time, the final decision resided with the governor. Watch the briefing here on Twitter, and the response is at minute 28.

Reporter Jesse (we didn’t catch a last name) asked: “Are you saying it’s your legal authority to close New York City schools, not Bill de Blasio’s?”

Gov. Cuomo answered: “It is my legal authority in this situation, yes. That's why when we closed them, we closed them statewide. We closed at the same time the island, then the suburbs, and we coordinated all upstate.”

Important to Gov. Cuomo is connecting businesses opening with school opening. During today’s briefing, Gov. Cuomo said: “I think you have to coordinate the business with the schools. Schools do education. Schools also do daycare, effectively, for a large percentage of the New York City population. How can you say to people: I think you can go back to work in May, but schools are going to continue to be closed, so figure out what to do with your children during the day, but you're going to have to go to work.”

With regard to officials in New York City and the White House saying they want businesses to open in May, Gov. Cuomo’s response was in part: “I accept it. I hear it. I'm not prepared to act on it. I have talked to all the County Executives. Some people believe the businesses will open in May. [Cuomo added that it was the mayor of NYC who thinks this.] Some people think we open in two weeks. Some people until June. I hear it all. We'll discuss it; we'll coordinate it.”

The governor has given no indication that businesses will open in May, and in fact, chastised Broadway’s announcement that it would open in June. During a press briefing this week, Gov. Cuomo responded to a question from a reporter about Broadway: “I wouldn’t use what Broadway thinks as a barometer of anything.”

Whose Authority Is It, Anyway?

Reporters were quick to focus on the whose-authority-is-it angle, with several followup questions and subsequent articles, but the fact remains, New York schools are closed until Wednesday, April 29, at least.

Gov. Cuomo presented his regional school closure strategy: “At the end of the day, the decision must be at minimum for the metropolitan area, hopefully statewide, ideally regional, with Connecticut and New Jersey. That's my goal. Coordinate school and business.”

Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to Gov. Cuomo, explained to Reporter Jesse how statewide school closures work in the executive order: “When we did the executive order with the 180-day waiver,” she explained, “school districts need a waiver if they are going to have less than 180 days of school. We said we are setting them all at the same time. Everyone is on the same schedule. NY PAUSE is extended through April 29. Everyone is on the exact same schedule, and when we extend that, that’s when we extend the 180-day waiver.”

Other States Have Closed Schools For The Year

New York would not be the first to close schools for the year, if this were to happen. California announced a school closure for the year on April 1. Kansas, in fact, was the first state to announce in-person school closures for the year back near March 18. Washington state announced school closures for the year on April 6. So far, Ohio has not announced a school closure for the year, and has extended it to May so far.

The governor went on to explain his rationale, that he is connecting school closure or opening with when businesses open, about which no decision has been made, now that we are in the apex that has plateaued, depending upon human behavior of maintaining social distancing.

If you want to make a prediction, like if a predicted snowfall is going to result in a snow day, you could follow A Little Beacon Blog’s snow day methodology, which includes keeping an eye on Ohio for weather patterns. Will COVID school closures follow?

In Case You Needed A Good Cry Today... Watch This "We Miss You" Video From South Avenue Elementary's Filmmaking Librarian, Mr. Burke

Today (Monday) was a good day for those in Healthy Quarantine Life. The sun was shining in clear blue skies. Distance Learning has started for families, and the closure for school and non-essential businesses was extended to April 29, 2020 (CA announced its closure for the year, so is anyone really counting anymore?).

Parents faced Monday with a renewed sense of: “We can do this. I am going to try. I am going to get into the groove with that Google Classroom, and my kid is going to play less Fortnite today. I am going to tell my boss to have less Zoom meetings, because I have to balance this Distance Learning Life.”

This may have proved successful for some parents. Those whose kids go to South Avenue Elementary have Mr. Burke, the filmmaking librarian who produces his news show, The Morning News, every morning for the kids. Usually it is him with puppets and multiple versions of himself acting in different characters. Now that he is producing these from home, sometimes his dog is in the picture.

Mr. Burke did something big. He got all of the teachers to write signs to the kids, and put them in a montage set to music. Give it a watch. It’s OK if you tear up.

If you want more of Mr. Burke, you can watch the entire Morning News Episode for April 3, 2020, below. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel for more episodes here.