Good afternoon,  

I want to give you all an update on our progress towards preparation for the beginning of the new school year. Although we have submitted our plan as required by the state, the work of preparing our schools for students in September is still underway.

We still have a lot of work to do to assure that all the pieces are in place —assigning teachers and other staff, configuring classrooms, planning bus routes, acquiring personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies, assuring support for students with the greatest needs, and more.

Thanks for letting us know which of you wanted all virtual instruction and which preferred the hybrid model.  We anticipate providing a clearer set of guiding documents for staff and parents in the days and weeks to come.  As we continue to develop those handbooks, there are a few things I can confirm for you today.

1.     My Hybrid team has adjusted the A/B schedule based on your feedback.  “A” days will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, and “B” days will be Wednesdays and Fridays.  What we are calling Mobile Mondays will be all remote for everyone.  We anticipate that both all virtual and all hybrid students will follow the A/B rotation at the elementary level.

2.     We are exploring an alternate means of determining who falls into the A and the B groups, based on geography, rather than alphabet.  Our goal is to design one set of bus routes that remain consistent through the year, so it makes sense to us to see if we can designate A and B students around the design of those routes.  We would then assign the students who will be driven by their parents to even out and balance the two groups.

3.     As we continue to refine and finalize our Return to Learn Plan, we have scheduled a series of four town hall meetings in order to give parents and staff a chance to be heard in real time – three for parents and one or staff.

a.     This coming Tuesday (Aug. 11) and Thursday (Aug. 13) there will be two virtual town halls for parents.  Both will begin at 6:30 p.m. and parents will be able to submit questions or statements using the same public participation form that we have been using at board of education meetings.  The link to that form will be on our website. The events will be live streamed and recorded.

b.     The following week we will have two in-person events,  also on Tuesday and Thursday. The third and final chance for parent input will occur at our Board of Education Meeting scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Aug. 18.  The session for teachers and other staff will occur on Thursday, Aug. 20, and will begin at 10 a.m.  Both of these events will occur at Pine Bush High School Cafeteria. The Aug. 18 meeting will be live streamed on our website and recorded.  Masks will be required.

Although we are still refining our plans for this fall, I am confident that what we will be able to provide will be an upgrade to our efforts from last spring. Know that we all appreciate your patience and support as we endeavor to finalize a substantial number of remaining operational details over the coming weeks.

Have a great day.

Tim O. Mains, Pine Bush Superintendent