Coronavirus Update, August 19, 2020
The Ithaca City School District Board of Education voted Tuesday night to enact a new school reopening plan for the Fall. Now, all ICSD students will begin the school year with remote learning on September 14, and students who elected to attend in-person classes will go back to school on October 5, the Ithaca Times reports.
In the previous ICSD reopening plan, students and their caregivers were given the option to choose from three options: attend in-person classes, participate in remote learning, or be homeschooled. But, in an all-staff meeting held Monday afternoon, Superintendent Dr. Luvelle Brown announced that the safest option was to delay in-person classes until October.
Dr. Brown says that he did not wish to delay in-person classes. In a speech to the Board of Education during Tuesday night’s meeting, he said that he was aware of the impact that the lack of in-person classes is having on many students.
None of the school board members voted against the measure to delay in-person classes. The board says that the updated re-opening plans would allow for ICSD to monitor data regarding COVID-19 cases in the county, especially as Cornell students return to the area, according to the Ithaca Voice.
The Odessa File is reporting that the superintendents of the Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour school districts are in the process of presenting their respective school-reopening plans to students and their caregivers.
Greg Kelahan, the superintendent of Watkins Glen school district, conducted his first meeting Tuesday night at the Watkins Glen High school. The meeting was attended by 8 caregivers, and Kelahan also presented plans to caregivers who were attending virtually.
Watkins Glen schools will provide in-person learning on a 3 or 2 times a week schedule that would alternate weekly. The student body will be divided into two school groups so as to allow for physical distancing in classrooms.
Odessa-Montour superintendent Chris Wood conducted his second caregiver meeting Tuesday. He says that about 600 students plan to attend schools in person, full time, while 120 students will attend remotely. Wood indicates that his school district is working out other important details such as transportation.
Both Kelahan and Wood noted that their respective plans are still in flux. Kelahan says that he and his staff are in a constant state of rethinking their plans.
A recently highlighted rule on the New York State Liquor Authority, or SLA, website is causing great concern amongst the owners of bars and restaurants where live music is promoted.
The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that the SLA website specifies that, even if bars and restaurants obey all social distancing regulations, they are not allowed to sell tickets to see a performance or even promote a music act.
Julie Leone, co-owner of the 443 Social Club and Lounge in Syracuse, says the SLA regulation prevents her from earning money from selling tickets to live music performances -- something that helps her pay the bills.
The State Liquor Authority website states that if restaurants and bars do not comply with the order, they can lose their liquor license or be shut down. Leone laments that she just purchased a large quantity of food and beer before the enactment of the regulation. Governor Cuomo’s office indicates that the order is to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, Alaska and Delaware are back on New York's COVID-19 Travel Advisory list. Travelers arriving to New York from 35 states and territories with high rates of coronavirus spread must quarantine for 14 days. Areas being added to the travel advisory list is determined upon a seven day rolling average, of positive tests in excess of 10% -- or number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.
Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released Wednesday from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there is 1 additional positive, and no new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 7 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins.
In Schuyler County, again there are no new cases of COVID-19 reported as of Wednesday, according to their Health Department. All active cases have recovered.
Contributing writing by WRFI News Volunteers Esther Racoosin and Ed von Aderkas.