Spring Return To School Survey

March 5, 2021

Dear KLSD Families,

We are currently examining options to bring more students back to school this school year. To learn more about our thinking, you may choose to watch the recording of this week’s Superintendent’s Coffee.

In order to further our planning, we need to hear from you. Please read the following and then complete the survey linked below by Tuesday, March 9. As with previous surveys, you will need to complete one for each child in our District. Directions for completing the survey are at the bottom of this letter.

In order to welcome more (and hopefully all) students back to school, the following will have to occur:

  • We will phase out the Cohort A/B model
  • We will aim for 5 days of school per week (staffing, space, supervision, and scheduling are the challenges that could reduce the days)
  • Students will be seated closer than 6 feet (in the vast majority of cases)
  • Clear barriers will be installed on desks when distance is less than 6 feet (per NYS guidance)
  • We will maximize the distance between students to the greatest extent possible (and make every effort not to go below 3 feet)
  • Actual distance between students will vary (depending on size of classroom and number of students)
  • More students will be in each classroom than presently (in the vast majority of cases)

All other mitigation strategies – mandatory mask wearing, handwashing, daily health screener, etc. – will remain the same.

On the survey, you will see that we describe two scenarios. While our goal is to bring all students back (and we’re hoping this will be possible soon after our Spring break), we feel obligated to ask our families if they would prefer the current model to remain.

If we do bring all students back, remote learning will remain an option as it is presently in secondary schools. In our elementary schools, it will remain an option in our fully remote sections. 

Importantly, we are asking families to make a commitment for the remainder of the year.

Once again, thank you for your partnership.

Sincerely,

Andrew Selesnick, Superintendent of Schools

 

Directions for completing the survey:

The link below will open a Microsoft Form that can only be completed by someone with a KLSD Microsoft account. We’re using this method so that we can be sure for which student the questions are being answered. This minimizes our need to verify information with you. 

If you click on the link on a personal device, you’ll be brought to the MS Office sign-in page. Please sign in with the credentials of the student for whom the survey is being completed.

Alternatively, you can open a browser on the student’s school-issued device. Type in the link below and a form associated with your child’s KLSD account will open automatically. (To avoid having to re-type the link, you can also forward this email to your child’s school email address and click the link on their device.) 

Importantly, if more than one child in our schools, a survey must be associated with each student’s separate KLSD account – so, either complete each survey separately on each child’s device or sign out and sign in again on your own device using each child’s credentials.

Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/2Pz2XuR