Friday Update November 13 2020

November 13, 2020

Dear KLSD Community,

I want to provide an update on where things stand for our schools today and where we might be heading.

As you well know, the pace of the virus - both nationally and locally - has increased dramatically in the last week. The town of Port Chester, which was the first yellow zone in Westchester just a few days ago, is now an orange zone. Port Chester schools are in a fully remote model. With the number of positive cases increasing across the County, further yellow zone determinations seem inevitable sooner rather than later. 

If you’re not familiar with our State’s micro-cluster strategy (which calls for yellow, orange, and red zones), you can read more about it here. Importantly, it’s not just the number of cases connected to schools that impact us, it’s how entire communities are faring that determines our status.

My hope is that we can keep our schools open as long as possible while still maintaining the safe conditions we have worked so hard to keep since September. We are exploring all avenues that might allow us to meet the State’s testing mandate (necessary to stay open if we’re named a yellow zone). But it’s only fair to let you know that the obstacles are significant. There’s a good chance that we’ll be forced to shift to a fully remote model, at least initially. All our students and staff are asked to be prepared for a transition that could come sooner than we would wish.

In the meantime, I encourage everyone to follow the protocols we know have helped – wearing masks, washing hands, and maintaining social distance. For now, we look forward to seeing our Cohort A and 4-day students at all five of our schools on Monday.

Two practical reminders: First, if a student is quarantined due to an exposure in school, while testing is encouraged, a negative test does not shorten the quarantine period. Second, if you learn of a positive case in your family outside school hours, please email your school’s principal immediately.

Thank you, and please take care,

Andrew Selesnick, Superintendent of Schools