On April 7, Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District Superintendent Peter Smith sent the following letter via SchoolMessenger to J-D families and staff.
April 7, 2021
Dear Jamesville-DeWitt families and staff,
I hope that you and your family enjoyed a nice break from school last week. I’m very excited that we will be welcoming students for more in-person instruction beginning on Monday, April 12, as follows:
- Grades 2-4: Shift to four days of in-person instruction (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday), and Wednesdays will continue as a remote instructional day through the end of April. On May 3, these students will transition to five days of in-person instruction.
- Grades 5-12: Shift to four days of in-person instruction (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). Wednesdays will continue as a fully remote instructional day through the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
Students in grades K-1 and special education who are currently attending school five days in-person will not see a change to their schedules.
For those families uncomfortable sending their students for in-person instruction due to COVID-19 concerns, the district will continue to offer remote-only instruction for all grades. We have asked families to commit to either in-person or remote instruction through May 24, when they will have the opportunity to switch their students’ learning models for the final five weeks of the 2020-21 school year.
With additional students coming to school each day, the transportation department has revised many bus routes. New bus routes will be posted on the transportation web page on Thursday afternoon, April 8.
We expect more vehicle traffic at each school for student drop off and pick up, and ask for your patience as we navigate any issues that may arise over the course of the first few days of this new schedule.
These changes are a result of Onondaga County’s revised COVID-19 guidance that reduces the social distance requirement between students to three feet in classrooms and six feet in physical education, which allows us to have more students physically present at the same time in our classrooms.
It is still recommended that six feet of distance be maintained between adults and between adults and students whenever possible, and we will continue to follow such guidance as wearing face masks, frequent hand washing and symptom screening.
Though not required in classrooms, we will be using barriers as added protection during lunch periods whether students are in classrooms or cafeterias since they will not be wearing masks while eating.
Please be on the lookout for building-specific information that will be emailed to you from our principals. We look forward to finishing the school year strong, and, as always, continue to reach out to me or your child’s building principal if you have questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Peter Smith