Northern Adirondack Central School District
Office of the Superintendent
James C. Knight, Jr.
P.O. Box 164
Ellenburg Depot, New York 12935
518-594-7060 ● Fax 518-594-7255 ● jknight@nacs1.org
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Northern Adirondack Central Reopening Update
This memo is intended to provide you with an update on the status of reopening our schools for the 2021 – 2022 school year. For the last couple of months you have asked what our plans for the fall of 2021 will be, and we responded by explaining that we have different options of possible plans but none of those could be set forth without the promised guidance from the Governor’s Office and the New York State Health Department. This past Wednesday, August 4th, it was confirmed that the State does not intend to issue guidance regarding the reopening of schools in September. For months the Superintendents in this BOCES region as well as those from around the state have asked New York to provide guidance as soon as they possibly could. The announcement that there will be no direction at all from the State comes as a great disappointment and complete surprise. Even with the current turmoil in Albany, we all expected guidance to be provided possibly with a delay due to the circumstances. As recently as last Monday, when the Commissioner of the New York State Education Department accompanied by legislative representatives sent a memo requesting an urgent release of guidance from the State, we expected guidance to shortly follow. As a result of this lack of guidance from the State, the Superintendents in this BOCES region met this past Thursday and drafted some common reopening parameters. This effort was done collaboratively in an effort to make things as similar as possible in all of the school districts. With the expectation that all of our students return to in-person instruction five days per week in September, we developed a regional agreement that follows the CDC guidelines and can be manipulated to meet the criteria necessary for our unique districts. We are currently waiting for the Clinton County Health Department to weigh in on this agreement and provide support for our plans. When we receive the endorsement from the CCHD, we plan to share the plan with detail regarding masking, physical distancing, cafeteria procedures, COVID-19 testing, isolation, and quarantine, daily screening, athletics, vaccinations, and much more. We recognize that our regional agreement and ultimately the NAC Plan will be subject to change based on additional official guidance and the regional transmission rates, however it will be a long overdue starting point that allows for all of our students to return to in-person learning.
Educationally,
James C. Knight, Jr.
Superintendent of Schools