Message from the Superintendent: In-Person Instruction Beginning Week of January 10th
Dear Freeport Families,
We hope you are all well and safely navigating your way through trying times again. We understand our return to remote instruction this week has been a challenge for many of our families and we appreciate your cooperation. I am so proud of how our students, staff, and families have risen to the occasion and have continued to work effectively through remote instruction.
Freeport Public Schools will return to in-person instruction beginning on Monday, January 10th. The decision to go remote is not made easily and there are many considerations taken into account. These include, among other things, the number of positive cases among both staff and students, quarantine and isolation periods and potential staffing shortages, and of course, exercising an abundance of caution and taking into account other regional factors.
As we return to in-person instruction, please know it is possible that we may have to be prepared to shift intermittently to remote instruction in the future on a school building basis or as a district. We will keep you informed of any changes as soon as possible and communications will be forthcoming from your building principals. It is always our intention to have our students engaged in in-person learning in our schools.
The safety and health of our students and staff is always our highest priority. Your assistance is needed in carefully monitoring the health of your children. If your children are exhibiting any signs of illness, please do not send them to school. The District offers PCR COVID testing on Mondays and Thursdays at Atkinson from 3PM - 5 PM. We made COVID-19 Antigen Home Rapid test kits from New York State available to you this week. Please test your children and yourselves if you are exhibiting any COVID symptoms. You should report any positive cases of your children to your school building administration.
Freeport Public Schools will continue to require all students and staff to wear masks in our schools along with physical distancing, and appropriate sanitization and hygiene practices. We will continue following the updated guidance and regulations from the New York State Department of Education (NYSED), New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We encourage all those who are eligible, including our students, to get vaccinated against COVID which is our best defense. For those eligible, please make sure to get your booster shots. Together, we can help keep our children safe in our schools. We look forward to welcoming our students back to school in-person for instruction next week starting Monday, January 10, 2022.
Regards,
Dr. Kishore Kuncham
Superintendent of Schools