School districts around New York State are setting up reopening guidance- mostly after the Easter holiday, or spring break- but that’s happening without much help from the state.
Throughout the pandemic the state Department of Health has been providing schools with a blow-by-blow breakdown of what is, and is not permitted. Yet, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed social distancing guidance- the state has been silent.
Superintendents across the Finger Lakes and Upstate New York are growing frustrated.
“The first time this came up actually was March 8. The health commissioner, Dr. Zucker made comments to the State Senate at his budget testimony about ‘any day now coming out with new guidance’ he claimed that at the time it was a high priority,” Brighton Superintendent Dr. Kevin McGowan told News10NBC.
“It doesn’t matter to people that it is somebody else having to give us the green light,” McGowan added. “The reality is I don’t blame them for being frustrated, they don’t want to parse out which governmental layer is responsible for what, they just want their kids back in school.”
They are still waiting for clear guidance. That said, many districts in the region have announced plans to bring students back in the coming weeks full-time.
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