Virtual Instruction and Tutoring Policies

Virtual Instruction and Tutoring Policies

As part of our reopening plan and continued efforts to meet the educational needs of our students during a pandemic, we have refined the services offered during periods of absence due to COVID-related situations. 

Depending on the circumstances, the district will offer a temporary period of virtual instruction for an entire classroom, or a temporary period of tutoring for individual students.

Virtual Instruction

The decision to offer students virtual instruction will be based on the level of mitigation occuring in the school environment, which includes the bus, classroom, and school building.  Our focus will be on maintaining a safe school environment for all staff and students.  

Virtual instruction will consist of the entire classroom moving to our online platform, Elementary (Google Classroom), Secondary (Schoology).  If the shift to virtual instruction is made students will be sent home with the appropriate devices (Chromebooks).

Tutoring Due to a School Exposure

In situations where we have a positive case of Covid-19 in the school setting and it is not necessary to provide an entire class virtual instruction due to the limited nature of the exposure, students will be offered virtual tutoring.   

Unless declined by the parent, virtual tutoring will be offered 1 hour per day (Elementary Students), 2 hours per day (Secondary 6-12 students) in accordance with New York State Education Department guidance.

Tutoring Due to an Exposure in a Setting Outside of School

If you are impacted by a quarantine involving exposure to a positive case of COVID-19 outside of the school setting (i.e. daycare, work, relatives or friends, etc.) you will need to contact the main office of your child’s school to request virtual tutoring services.

    You are required to provide copies of the Department of Health quarantine paperwork with clearly defined start and end dates prior to tutoring services beginning.

Please note: we recognize that virtual instruction with kindergarten students can be an overwhelming burden to families helping the child navigate the setting.  Kindergarten teachers will reach out to families in quarantine circumstances and develop a plan with you.

For students with an individualized educational plan (IEP), parents will be asked to contact the Pupil Services Office at 518-295-6657 to set up tutoring services in accordance with the IEP, regardless of where the exposure stems.

The pandemic has proved to be a challenging and fluid situation.  The district will make every effort to adapt our reopening guidance to the most current CDC, NYS DOH, and NYSED guidance as quickly as possible.  All changes to the above information will be posted on our website and sent out to families through our School Messenger system.  You are automatically enrolled in the School Messenger system when you provide your email address with your contact information. If you are not receiving emails from the district, please contact your child’s school’s main office.