The Westmoreland Central School District’s “Summer Bus Tour” to discuss the re-opening of school and receive input from parents, guardians, community members and students, kicked off on July 14.
The tour’s first two stops were at the Stanwix Heights Volunteer Fire Department and Seymour’s Diner. At each location, Superintendent of Schools Rocco Migliori, Board of Education members and other school officials met with district stakeholders to provide an update on re-opening plans, solicit feedback and answer questions. 
Several topics were discussed, including student schedules, the anticipated number of students per classroom, transportation, athletics and other extra-curricular activities, personal protective equipment and health and safety measures the district plans on implementing.
“Knowing we don’t have a lot of time, we didn’t want to wait for formal guidance from the state to start developing our re-opening plan,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Migliori said. “Hearing from community members, particularly students, staff and parents, is extremely important to us as we begin the challenging process of developing a re-opening plan that makes education as normal as possible, but as safe as possible as well.”
“There are still so many unknowns and so many different scenarios and needs to consider, so consistent dialogue is vital,” Migliori added.
The district anticipates on receiving formal re-opening guidance from the New York State Education Department (SED) by July 17. Based on that guidance, the district must develop and submit a re-opening plan to SED by July 31. Every district in New York State must submit a re-opening plan. After reviewing all re-opening plans, SED and Governor Cuomo will decide if school will re-open - - and how - - by August 7.
“The Summer Bus Tour” continues on Wednesday, July 22, with stops at Camelot Village, the Church of the Annunciation, Lowell Volunteer Fire Department and Westmoreland Town Park. Attendees must pre-register.
Click here for more information and to pre-register.
Click here to view photos from the tour’s first two stops.
Click here to read a story about the tour's first two stops published in the Clinton Record.
Click here to watch WKTV’s coverage of the tour’s first two stops.