August 12, 2020
Dear Parents, Guardians and School Community:
I would like to provide you with a few, important updates. 
1. The district’s reopening plan was submitted to the New York State Department of Education and New York State Department of Health, and approved. As of this writing, we continue to make necessary updates and revisions to the plan, almost on a daily basis. Most notably, specifying where in Oneida County members of our school community can get tested for COVID-19.
With regards to testing, the district will follow recommendations from the Oneida County Health Department and will not conduct testing on school grounds. There are multiple testing sites throughout Oneida County, and I encourage anyone seeking a test to visit one of these locations. The district’s reopening plan and information on testing/testing sites can be found on the school website under “Reopening.”
2. The district’s reopening plan is rather lengthy, so we pulled out a few of the sections we felt were most pertinent and placed summaries of just those sections on the school website. There are individual documents that speak specifically to our instructional and remote learning plans, testing protocols and specific protocols that will be followed should a student or staff member become ill while at school. The procedures that must be followed should a student or staff member be sent home with symptoms consistent with those of COVID-19 are also explained. All of this can be found on the school website under “Reopening.”
3. There is a lot in the reopening plan and many things to digest, so I would, once again, like to conduct question and answer sessions to give you the opportunity to have your questions and concerns addressed.
The district is having two in-person meetings and one virtual meeting. The in-person meetings will be held next Monday, August 17, at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., at the Westmoreland Town Park (under the pavilion). The virtual meeting will be held next Tuesday, August 18, at 6:00 p.m. The link to the virtual meeting will be made available on our website that evening. At each meeting, I will be joined by the three building principals, Mrs. O’Connell, Mr. Haskell and Mr. Saxton, and Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Mr. Polera. The virtual meeting will be taped and uploaded to the school website for those unable to join us live.
4. We will soon be scheduling dates for students to come to school to pick-up a Chromebook. In the event the reopening of school is delayed and remote learning becomes necessary, we want to get all essential devices into the hands of our students. We will release a pick-up schedule soon.
While it is virtually impossible to meet everyone’s needs, the district’s reopening plan represents a collaborative effort among all of those who make up our school community. I also acknowledge that we will need to continually revise and update our reopening plan as we move forward - - so thank you for your understanding.
Last, but not least, please remember there is a 100 percent remote learning option for at-risk students with health issues and/or for parents concerned about sending their child(ren) back to school. I would be more than happy to provide you with more information and to address any concerns you may have.
In the end, I recognize the decision to send or not to send your child(ren) to school can be a difficult one. With that said, if I or any member of the district’s staff can be of any assistance to you, please call. The decision must be a family decision and one you are comfortable with.
I hope to see you at one of our meetings next week. Have a great rest of the week and stay healthy.
Sincerely,
Rocco Migliori Superintendent of Schools
*This message is a written summary of Superintendent Migliori's telephone message to the school community on August 12, 2020.*