As County Relaxes Social Distancing Guidelines, District Plans to Offer Additional In-Person Instruction

On March 4, Onondaga County and the Onondaga County Commissioner of Health issued a policy proposal to increase school participation to five days/week in Onondaga County. The policy proposal was updated on March 16 and details continue to be finalized. In anticipation of such news, the North Syracuse Central School District had surveyed families to gauge our family's level of comfort sending students to school if social distancing guidelines were ultimately reduced.  The great majority of our families (over 90% of current Hybrid students’ families and 71% of families overall) indicated they would feel comfortable sending students for additional in-person learning.

In his March 12 letter to families, Superintendent of Schools Daniel D. Bowles announced the District's plans to implement changes on a staggered start beginning April 12. "The plan for our District is to bring students back for more days of in-person learning. Because some families and staff still feel unsafe, we will continue to offer remote instruction," Bowles said. 

With some details still undecided, the District understands that its planned timeline to bring current in-person K-4 students back five-days/week on April 12 and current in-person 5-12 students back four-days/week on April 19, may need to be adjusted. Despite any changes that do need to be made though, Superintendent Bowles is committed to updating staff and families.  A website for frequently asked questions regarding the expanded reopening has been created and new questions will be added throughout the process. 

Parents of students in grades 5-12 who want to make a change from remote to hybrid or hybrid to remote should contact their school principal. All requests must be submitted by April 7. No additional requests for change in placement for the 2020-2021 school year will be accepted after April 7.