Rochester City School District Superintendent Dr. Lesli Myers-Small announced today that all RCSD students will begin the school year in September under a remote learning model for the first ten weeks of the school year. Myers-Small said, “While this is not an easy decision to make, we have done so in close collaboration with school leaders and with the support of local health officials.”
Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that levels of COVID-19 were low enough to open schools across New York State. Since then, the RCSD revisited all three of the learning models it outlined in its reopening plan.
The decision to utilize a 100 percent remote learning model was based on several factors, including an urban district the size of Rochester. Most notably, the CDC has indicated there is increasing evidence that some racial and ethnic minority groups are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
The District also listened to feedback from employees and families, and many parents and caregivers are choosing the remote learning model over the hybrid model that the District had originally proposed.
Additionally, the District will begin hosting the first of five parent forums on Saturday, August 15 at 1 p.m. Governor Cuomo has also asked all districts in New York to post specific remote learning, testing, and contact tracing plans online by Friday, August 14. These specific components of the RCSD plan are readily accessible to all stakeholders in the District.
***Editor Note***
Superintendent Myers-Small will be available to take questions from the media on Friday, August 14 at 11 a.m. at Central Office, 131 West Broad Street, Rochester, NY 14614.
She will be joined by:
- Van Henri White, Board of Education President
- Dr. Daniele Lyman-Torres, Commissioner of Recreation and Youth Services for the City of Rochester
- Dr. Tom Hernandez, Dean of Education at SUNY Brockport
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