Some school children in the Syracuse City School District will be learning remotely the rest of the week. Superintendent Jaime Alicea says reports of positive COVID-19 cases over the weekend caused a one-day delay for all schools. But that delay will extend to a week for five schools in the district that had trouble getting enough essential staff.
Clary, Ed Smith, Frazer, Seymour, and Dr. Weeks schools couldn’t replace staff and teachers due to positive tests and staff determined to be a close contact. Students at those schools will go to remote learning for the rest of the week. Alicea says the district will help families.
“Technology, laptops, hotspots will be provided to the families that are in need of technology. Also [learning] packets will be provided to them," said Alicea. "The principals will be communicating with the families tonight and tomorrow.”
All other schools plan to open Tuesday. The district spent the day Monday getting in-home tests into the hands of families to increase safety when kids do go back to class, which Alicea emphasized is the district’s goal.
“My goal and the goal of the Board of Education is to keep the schools open. This is the way that we can [best] continue to educate our students, and we have taken a lot of precautions to make sure that our schools are safe. We were the first district in Onondaga County to make sure we have air purifiers in all the classrooms. We have provided all the PPE that is necessary… So it is my goal to keep our schools open.”
Over the weekend Governor Kathy Hochul said she thought children are safer in classes, if they’ve tested negative and comply with mask-wearing. District officials are working with the city and the state to have home testing kits available to families, in order to keep track – and keep those who are carrying the virus from school – whether they have symptoms or not. The district handed out more than 6,000 tests during the day and opened several schools for handing them out Monday night.
