The Valley Central School District Board of Education adopted the district’s reopening plan at their meeting on Monday night. They adopted the plan unanimously with a 7-0 vote.

This decision came after months of planning. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Marianne Serratore serves as the district’s COVID-19 coordinator and oversaw the planning for the reopening process since June.

“Great work to Marianne at the top with the whole staff,” said Superintendent of Schools John Xanthis. “The task force has met since June bringing people in to be trained and making this a much better experience for our community than it was when we got shut down in March.”

This decision came following three widely attended virtual town halls. Each earned more than 1,000 views on the district’s YouTube channel, with the first garnering greater than 2,400.

The board’s decision was also influenced on Monday when members took a tour of the district’s schools to see what they would be like when the academic year begins. After seeing how classrooms and the cafeteria were set up, board members felt that the schools could safely accommodate students.

Trustee Sonia Lewis felt that one of the strengths of the reopening plan was that it gives students options. Students who feel unsafe at school can choose to receive all remote instruction.

Prior to the start of the school year, there will be three conference days for teachers: Sept. 1-3. There teachers will be trained on six online learning platforms: Google Meet, Google Classroom, YouTube, Edpuzzle, Flipgrid and Screencastify. The goal is for teachers to be familiar with these platforms by the first day of school on Sept. 4. Serratore expects teachers to be proficient with these platforms over time.

The first day of school will be virtual for all. After that, all Valley Central students will be separated into two teams: Team 1 and Team 2. Hybrid instruction will be a combination of in-person at 50 percent capacity and online/remote learning.

Team 1 will attend school in person on Monday and Thursday. They will receive online/remote instruction on Tuesday and Friday. Team 2 will attend school in person on Tuesday and Friday and will have online/remote instruction on Monday and Thursday. Teams 1 and 2 will alternate in-person and online/remote learning each Wednesday.

Special education (12:1:1, 6:1:2, 8:1:2, Life Skills) and Alternative Learning Center at Maybrook students will attend school in person five days a week. Students will also be given the option of all online instruction.

The board of education is happy with how the reopening plan turned out and are grateful to those who contributed to it.

“I would like to commend our administrators and our teachers for the job that they did in this reopening plan,” said Board of Education President Joseph Bond. “Although we can’t be prepared for everything, I think this reopening plan really was a phenomenal job and I feel like we’re ready and if something happens that changes our direction, we’re ready for that as well.”