ALLEGANY, N.Y. — When school opens for elementary students early Thursday at the Allegany-Limestone Central School District, safety will be the first thought among staff — and excitement is expected to be a close second for students.
Superintendent Tony Giannicchi said this will likely be the case as it will be the first time in six months since Allegany-Limestone schools have been open since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. He noted middle school and high school students will return to their campus Sept. 8.
“The safety procedures are what we concentrated on first, the social and well-being of the students is second and instruction came in third,” Giannicchi said. “Those really are three goals we’re working on in that order.”
In regard to safety measures that are in place, he said the district began ordering personal protection equipment (PPE) such as masks, hand sanitizers and proper cleaning materials beginning in April. The district will also upgrade air filters and univents that circulate fresh air throughout the classrooms and schools.
“We knew the supplies probably would run short so we started real early in the process,” he said.
While budgeting for the PPE was expensive, Giannicchi said allowing for transportation costs hit the district the hardest.
“We have a whole extra run on top of the first run (for the bus routes) to allow for the limitation of the number of students on the buses,” he said. “It will be pretty tricky running our special runs which are any special placements” for students who need transportation to BOCES and other facilities.
He noted students must sit one to a seat unless they are from the same household and have to wear their mask on the bus. As a result, the student capacity for each bus is cut in half.
In addition, secondary students will ride on separate bus runs from elementary students.
To add to the issue, the district hasn’t been able to hire extra bus drivers as they are unable to obtain permits needed through the state Department of Transportation, as they’re not being offered at this time.
“At a certain point, I think this (driver limitation) will stall us and probably different districts in the area,” he surmised.
As for the schedule for classes, Giannicchi said the hybrid form will be provided for secondary students, and in-person classes will be offered Monday through Friday for elementary students who are in grades pre-kindergarten through five.
As for the elementary schedule, he said “That was one of our main focuses because of the health (concerns) of it and the social aspect. We felt the elementary students need the daily interaction and we allocated some of our resources and staff to the elementary to make sure that happens … Plus we would be passing our issues of daycare out into the communities.”
Giannicchi said the Olean YMCA will provide care for this age group, as needed, before and after school.
He said classes for the elementary grades will start this week to ensure the transportation aspect runs smoothly. In addition, there will be fewer students in the classes, with desks separated by dividers.
Regarding secondary students, he said that while it “may not be ideal” for traditional students in grades six through 12 to have a hybrid plan that includes remote learning, it is believed this age level will be able to handle the schedule.
The hybrid plan will break students up into four groups defined by the letters A, B,C and D.
“A comes on Monday and Thursday; B comes on Tuesday and Friday; C will come Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; and the D group are remote learners only,” he explained. “Wednesday will be an entirely virtual day — they’re doing cleaning, but that’s our time for our teachers to create their virtual lessons and touch base with students who might be struggling.”
He further noted the C group will comprise special needs students, as well as students who are enrolled in BOCES and those who may be lacking internet in their homes.
“We also may have students who struggled a little bit more in the spring,” he added.
Meals will be available for pick-up to all students who do not attend in-person classes on certain days or are studying remotely.
On a final thought, Giannicchi admitted while scheduling has been “overwhelming, it’s a great staff, it’s a great community and the parents have been real cooperative.
“So when they say it takes a village, this really took a village and a half,” he concluded.
