Dear Port Jervis Learning Community,
On Saturday, April 10, 2021, New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) released an update to the Interim Guidance for In-person Instruction at Pre-K to Grade 12 Schools document. The objective of this update was “to align this guidance with the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to prioritize safe in-person learning in schools while adhering to layered mitigation strategies.”
The guidance document allows for physical distancing of at least three feet between students in classrooms without the need for physical barriers. This is seemingly a positive move to allow more schools to have increased numbers of students receiving in-person instruction. The caveat to this move is that in counties where the transmission rate is designated as “High” for Community Transmission on the CDC’s dashboard, the students in middle and high schools are to have six (6) feet between them. The previous guidance allowing for physical barriers to be installed on desks is no longer applicable.
We will analyze our protocols and procedures to ensure that we are in compliance with the updated guidance. The decision to remain with our current model throughout this analysis was made as it is unreasonable for a guidance document with these contents to be sent on a Saturday with the expectation for full implementation on Monday. It is my position that this is not only unreasonable, it is unfair to our students, their families, and our faculty and staff, each of whom have worked tirelessly to provide the safest and most productive learning environments possible.
Therefore, at this time Port Jervis City School District’s plans remain unchanged.
I wanted to provide our learning community with the most current information and details possible following this important release from the NYS DOH, as well as the rationale for our District’s decisions. Further information will be released as we progress through the analysis and modifications to our protocols to allow our current model to remain in effect.
Please find the link to NYS DOH Guidance document and the CDC COVID Tracker dashboard below.
Thank you for the continued cooperation and patience.
Mike Rydell
Superintendent of Schools
NYS DOH Updated Guidance Document (April 2021)