With just weeks to go before maybe the most important first days of school, Hudson Valley school districts, parents, and students alike still have questions about how they'll all be kept healthy.

Education leaders in White Plains have put together a document to help ease everyone's mind.

The Westchester School Reopening Workgroup has put together an eight-page guide to assist local schools on how to open safely this fall.

The document covers topics like best health practices, testing, and contact tracing requirements.

For the first time ever, school leaders aren't just worried about providing an education. They quickly need to learn what they need to do if a student has coronavirus to prevent it from spreading throughout the school. 

This includes how long others should isolate, when to get tested, how to clean classrooms, and if buildings need to shut down entirely. "We're teachers, we're not doctors, we're not medical doctors. So having the coordination of the health care professionals to set up a framework for contact tracing and for testing that needed to be done at the health level," says White Plains Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Ricca.

Nearly every school district in Westchester has submitted reopening plans to the state, and for now have the green light to reopen.

Schools will close if the regional infection rate goes above 9%. 

The New York State United Teachers union, which represents about 600,000 teachers, is feeling anxious about reopening, but hopefully guides like this one can help ease some minds.

School Guidelines Document:

 

 

MORE: Guide: Reopening plans for Hudson Valley schools
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MORE: 15 topics included in the New York State Education Department guidance to reopen schools
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