Wantagh School District Unveils Reopening Plan

WANTAGH, NY — The Wantagh Union Free School District has released its plan to reopen schools this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.

And for students and staff, green means go.

The district submitted its reopening plan to the state Friday, which includes guidelines around masks, social distancing, hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting, temperature checks, health screenings, installing physical barriers and more.

Every school district in New York was required to submit reopening plans to state health and education officials, who will evaluate the plans this week and either approve or reject the outlines. Gov. Andrew Cuomo will ultimately decide whether to open schools at all, and said he'll do so based on the metrics such as the infection rate, which has remained steady at about 1 percent.

Click here to see the Wantagh public school district's plan to reopen schools.

Inside The Wantagh Public School Reopening Plan

The Wantagh public school system submitted a plan that has students receiving three learning schedules at the start of the school year: green, yellow and red schedules, a nod to the familiar traffic light system.

Green

A green schedule would indicate the community is seeing "very limited or no community spread." Under this model, students in every grade attend school in-person daily and go through their regular schedule. Schools must abide by the state's health and safety guidelines, including masks and social distancing.

Elementary Schools

• All students will report to school each day and go through their regular schedule.
• Restrictions will still be in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and maintain a healthy environment for students and staff as outlined above.

Middle And High School

• All students report to school each day and go through their regular schedule.
• Restrictions will still be in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and maintain a healthy environment for students and staff as outlined above.

Yellow

Yellow represents "minimal or moderate community spread" and features a blended learning model. Students in grades K-6 attend school in person daily, but those in grades 7-12 attend in person just a few days a week. They are expected to learn remotely the other days.

Elementary Schools

• Students will attend school every day, though this could change to a staggered start depending on participation in the district's transportation.
• All students will be divided into small cohorts to allow for proper social distancing in the classroom of six feet.
• Students will not travel to special area classrooms. Special area class instruction will take place in their home base classroom.
• Reading and math support services will be delivered remotely to students.
• All special education services will be provided in-person to students.
• Schoology will be used as the learning management system to ensure that students and staff will be able to quickly toggle to remote learning if necessary.

Middle And High Schools

• Students in grade six will attend school every day. Instruction will take place in large classroom spaces to allow for proper social distancing. Students will not move throughout the building for their various classes. They will stay in one location and teachers will rotate to the students location to deliver instruction.
• All students in grade 7 to 12 will be divided into two cohorts to allow for proper social distancing in the classroom of six feet. Principals will be creating each cohort and will take into consideration siblings when creating the groups. Students will either be in one of the following cohorts:
  • Cohort A: Students attend school for in-person instruction on Mondays, Tuesdays and alternating Wednesdays. Students will participate in remote learning on the opposite days.
  • Cohort B: Students attend school for in-person instruction on Thursdays and Fridays and alternating Wednesdays. Students will participate in remote learning on the opposite days.
• On days students are working remotely, they will go through their entire schedule in real time virtually. Teachers will stream classes and work with the students in front of them.

Red

Red essentially means a full-stop on in-person learning due to "substantial community spread" and a complete shift to remote learning.

Elementary Schools

• All students attend classes remotely and follow a daily schedule using their Chromebook.
• Students will receive both large group and small group instruction each day at specified intervals.
• Each day, two to three whole class lessons will take place followed by small group instruction.
• Each class will have an established schedule for the whole group lessons and the small group lessons. These lessons will take place live and be provided virtually for students via their Chromebook.
• Attendance will be taken at these sessions and student participation is required.

Middle And High Schools

• All students attend classes remotely and follow a daily schedule using their Chromebook.
• Students will receive live instruction daily at their regularly scheduled class time.
• There will be live instruction each day and students are required to participate and attendance will be taken.
• One modification will be made to the high school schedule that will move students period one class to the end of the day (period one moved to period 10) to allow for a later start time on remote learning days for students.

Health and Safety Precautions

Students who are at a higher risk of falling seriously ill from the COVID-19 disease, which is caused by the virus, would receive accommodations, the plan said. But students who will attend school will see new classroom layouts and be subjected to daily health screenings.

Classrooms Redesigned, Barriers Installed, Students Must Cover Faces

Desks will be spaced at least 6 feet apart in classrooms and students will have to wear masks. Clear barriers will be placed on every desk and a hand sanitizing station will be placed in every classroom. Classrooms will reduce maximum occupancy to allow for social distancing and every classroom will be outfitted with equipment to provide remote lessons.

Furthermore, each school has identified outdoor eating spaces to allow students to spread out during lunch in the warmer weather months. The outdoor eating areas will be tented.

Students Organized Into Small Groups

Students at all levels will be placed into smaller cohorts, the district said.

At the elementary level, students will be divided into smaller class sizes to allow for appropriate social distancing within the traditional classroom.

Sixth graders will remain in a traditional size classroom cohort and use larger instructional spaces to allow for social distancing.

Students in grades 7-12 will be organized into “A” and “B” groups who attend school two or three days a week and spend the opposite days doing remote learning. Students will attend school on either Monday, Tuesday and alternating Wednesdays OR alternating Wednesdays, Thursday and Friday.

Health Screenings

All students must submit a health screening form each week. The form will ask several coronavirus-related questions and will be submitted electronically. Those who do not submit the form will not be allowed to attend school. Parents are also strongly encouraged to conduct temperature checks each morning before their child arrives at school, though every student will have a temperature screening when they arrive. Students will be screened as they get off the bus or get out of their car. Any student with a temperature of over 100 degrees will not be allowed to attend school.

All staff must submit a daily health screening form and have a temperature screening upon arriving to school. The health screening form will be submitted electronically every day before the employee arrives at work.

Cafeterias And Communal Spaces

Cafeteria seating will be reconfigured to maintain social distancing while students eat. Outdoor tented eating areas will also be installed at every school to add eating spaces. Wantagh High School will be a closed campus for lunch.

Bathroom occupancy will be limited to allow for social distancing.

At the middle and high school, bathroom use will be prohibited during change of class periods. Touchless faucets will also be installed in all communal bathrooms.

Recess spaces at elementary schools will be clearly defined to keep students with their classroom cohort and limit potential exposure.

Barriers

Physical barriers will be installed at reception areas, main offices, health offices and food service lines where social distancing is difficult. Barriers will also be installed on every student and teacher desk.

Cleaning And Disinfecting

All cleaning and disinfecting will be done in accordance with federal health and safety guidance, the district said. Frequently touched surfaces such as door handles, sink handles and railings will be cleaned and disinfected in schools and on buses each day at minimum, and sometimes between use as much as possible. Drinking fountains will be closed. All schools will be equipped with bottle filler stations for water