Published: July 21, 2020
On Monday July 13, Governor Cuomo released guidance for school districts to reopen K-12 facilities in New York State. Based on these guidelines, your school must submit a reopening plan to the state by July 31. Schools will be allowed to reopen if their region has entered Phase Four and if the daily infection rate in that region (averaged over a two-week period) does not exceed 5%.
What your school will be required to provide in the fall:
- A mix of in-person and virtual learning
- Social distancing and 50% capacity of any space
- Increase distancing to twelve feet during activities like singing, playing band instruments and gym class
- Utilize face coverings and provide them to students without masks
- Post health instruction signage throughout school
- Limit the use of shared objects like workstations or tool
- Provide sanitizing stations & training on proper hand & respiratory hygiene
- Frequently clean and disinfect shared areas
- Hold mandatory health screenings including temperature checks of students, staff, contractors & visitors
- Immediately send home any student or staff member who becomes symptomatic
- Notify state and local health departments of any positive test results
- Have plans to assist in contact tracing
- Expand social distancing, disinfecting and face-covering protocols to school buses
Schools are also encouraged to:
- Expand their physical footprint if necessary
- Stagger arrival/departure times and altered schedules
- Build “cohorts,” or small groups of students who learn together to minimize cross contamination
- Use “one-way” traffic lanes in hallways