POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie City School District (PCSD) will not be bringing students into the schools in September. Superintendent Dr. Eric Rosser announced plans to begin “remote-learning” rather than opening the physical schools.
In a letter to parents sent on Wednesday, Rosser said, in part, “After careful and
deliberate consideration and planning it has been determined that the most appropriate
instructional delivery model to begin our school year will be distance learning (remote
instruction).”
Statistical data collected by the district after sending a survey to parents said that 57.8% of PCSD parents prefer this model for their children. Additional factors that formed this decision included a “great need to guarantee that the safety and health of students and staff will be protected while high-quality instruction is being provided in school and needing additional time to address this need under the school reopening requirements of the New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED).”
Rosser’s letter vowed that the district will be taking steps to ensure that children receive an education by doing the following:
- Distribute Chromebooks, musical instruments, and other instructional supplies to our
- students and families.
- Provide parents and students with multiple opportunities to better understand how to
- navigate the online instructional environment.
- Engage our teachers and administrators in professional development to improve the
- robustness of our online teaching practices.
- Provide our teachers with time to collaborate so that the planning and delivery of
- remote instruction is amplified.
- Continue to develop our ability to deliver social, emotional and wellness supports for
- our students remotely.
- Continue to develop strategies to deliver high-quality supports to students with
- exceptionalities.
- Establish thirteen locations throughout Poughkeepsie to provide students with free
- breakfast and lunches.
Dr. Rosser said that an update on future education methods will be provided on October 1.
Additional information on the district’s long-term plan can be found at the school districtwebsite.