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Ogdensburg students returning to five-day school week Monday, but remote still an option

Posted 5/2/21

BY JIMMY LAWTON North Country This Week OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg students will return to five-day per week in classroom learning beginning Monday May 3. Superintendent Kevin Kendall said staff and …

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Ogdensburg students returning to five-day school week Monday, but remote still an option

Posted

BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG -- Ogdensburg students will return to five-day per week in classroom learning beginning Monday May 3.

Superintendent Kevin Kendall said staff and faculty are ready to get students back together, but is ensuring all protocols are being met to ensure it happens safely.

“We are beyond excited,” he said.

For parents not yet ready to return students to classrooms, remote learning will remain an option, however Kendall says there will be no hybrid model.

“Students will need to be either fully remote or in class five days a week,” he said.

Kendall said Ogdensburg schools have operated safely throughout the pandemic with the last contract tracing performed in February.

Kendall said that the number students attending remotely has been in decline for sometime, which he sees as a sign that many parents and students are ready to be back in school full-time.

“We understand that there is some anxiety that comes with it, but we believe that with our screenings, masking and social distancing we can do this safely,” he said.

Kendall said back in February Ogdensburg City School District reached out to parents to gauge interest to returning to classrooms when the Center for Disease Control reduced the six-foot spacing requirement to three feet.

He said they wanted to be ready incase the state health department adopted the guidelines, which the have since done.

He said the data collected then helped shape the plan that will be kicking off Monday.

For some districts returning to school will take more time. Some schools may struggle to meet the space requirements even with the 3-foot reduction, other may not have the buses needed to transport students in a social distanced manner, but for Ogdensburg the time is right.

“We are able to meet all transportation requirements and have been notified by First Student that we can do this,” he said.

As in the original reopening plan, the district still may be forced to close due to COVID-19.

Should a full closure occur, the district will pivot to fully remote instruction as outlined in our original reopening plan. The district will communicate with all students, staff and parents via One Call Now, Email, The OCSD Facebook Page, the OCSD webpage and local media outlets.

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