During a press conference on Monday, April 6, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that his “New York State on PAUSE” executive order will remain in effect until April 29. This will keep schools and non-essential businesses closed until then.

As of Sunday evening, there were 188,694 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in New York State. The number of deaths has climbed to 9,385.

“New York is far and away the most impacted state,” Cuomo said.

New Jersey, the state with the second highest number of positive COVID-19 cases, had 61,850 positive cases and 2,350 deaths as of Sunday night.

The governor aims to enforce social distancing through fines. He is asking local governments to begin enforcing the 6 foot social distance requirements. He has raised the maximum fine from $500 to $1,000.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also hit Orange and Ulster Counties hard. As of Friday, there were 4,640 positive COVID-19 cases in Orange County and 693 in Ulster County as of Sunday. The Town of Montgomery had 248 cases while Crawford had 37. Shawangunk has the most positive cases in Ulster County with 72 while Gardiner only had 13 confirmed cases as of Sunday evening. Orange County had 129 fatalities while Ulster County had only 11.

April 6 was a big day for the state of New York as well as the Pine Bush Central School District. The District began full virtual learning Pre-K through grade 12 throughout the district.

“From all that I can tell the launch went very smoothly, which is a testament to the hard work and planning of our incomparable instructional staff,” Superintendent of Schools Tim Mains said.

He also announced that they began to deploy about a dozen 3D printers to print the headbands for face shields that they will provide to local health care providers and first responders. Orange Regional Medical Center, Middletown Medical and the Crawford Police Department have all asked to receive some.

On Monday, April 6, Marianne Serratorre, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the Valley Central School District unveiled their online instructional plan.

The District’s elementary schools will utilize an alternate day schedule to provide instruction to their students. Content areas will be broken into specific days of the week with alternating days for posting lessons and assignments. Teachers will post class assignments by 9 a.m. each day on Google Classroom or via email based on the assigned day. For classroom teachers, Monday and Wednesday will be designated for English/Language Arts and social studies lessons and assignments. Math and science material will be posted on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday will be designed for student feedback and continued student contact. Students are also encouraged to read for 15-30 minutes each day.

For special area teachers, art class materials will be posted on Monday. Physical education content will be posted on Tuesday and music class material on Wednesday. Library and STEAM lessons and assignments will be posted on Thursday and physical education content will be posted Friday.

Starting April 15, elementary students will be graded on all subject areas using the elementary effort codes. “O” which stands for outstanding, is the highest grade an elementary school student can earn, with “S” standing for satisfactory, being the second highest grade achievable. Students can also earn an “N” for needs improvement and a “U” for unsatisfactory.

Middle school teachers will post class assignments by 8:15 a.m. each day on Google Classroom or via email. English/Language Arts, math, music, home and career material will be posted on Monday and Wednesday. Social studies, science, foreign language and technology content will be posted on Tuesday and Thursday. Physical education and art material will be available on Tuesday and Friday.

Valley Central Middle School students received numerical grades for the third quarter. The third quarter ended on April 14. Students were able to use April 6-14 to make up missed work from the third quarter.

The fourth quarter will begin on April 15 and continue through the end of the year. Throughout the closure, all grades will be assigned as either pass or fail depending on the completion and quality of work done on each assignment. Teacher feedback will be provided back to students and will follow these categories: 4 meets all aspects, 3 meets most aspects, 2 meets few aspects, 1 work not completed. Honor roll will be suspended for the third and fourth quarters.

High School teachers will post class assignments by 7:25 a.m. each day on Google Classroom. Content for English, math, business, family and consumer science and music classes will be posted on Monday and Wednesday. Material for social studies, science, world language and JROTC will be posted on Tuesday and Thursday. Physical education, health and art class assignments will be submitted on Tuesday and Friday.

Valley Central High School received numerical grades for the third quarter. The third quarter ended on April 14. Students were able to use April 6-14 to make up missed work from the third quarter. The fourth quarter will begin on April 15 and continue through the end of the year.

Like the middle school, teacher feedback will be provided to the student and will follow these categories: 4 meets all aspects, 3 meets most aspects, 2 meets few aspects, 1 work not completed.
Honor roll will be suspended for the third and fourth quarters. Course selection will continue to occur through an online platform. The scheduling of appointments will occur through email.

“Your child’s teacher, as well as all of us, are here to make this a smooth transition,” Serratorre said.

On Monday, April 6, Kevin Castle, Superintendent of Schools at the Wallkill Central School District, announced that the X/Y day schedule will now be extended through April 29.

Castle also announced that the District will be transitioning to new learning on April 13. Each teacher will provide families with more information on how they will check for understanding. The majority of teachers will continue with the instructional delivery that they have been using. For students with disabilities, the District will be providing instruction pursuant to each student’s individualized education plan.

During this time of new learning, teachers will be providing feedback on completed assignments and assessments. Some of the feedback to the students may include numerical grades.

“As we get closer to the completion of the fourth marking period, we will complete a thorough analysis of student data to ensure we are able to accurately reflect the performance of our students,” Castle said. “Regardless of the method we use, the final outcome needs to be fair, equitable and valid.”

The District will make a final decision regarding third marking period grades on or about April 17. Their goal is to mail home third marking period report cards the week of April 27.

“We will continue to assess our learning plan and will make adjustments accordingly...,” Castle said. “This is new learning for all of us and we will continue to ensure we are providing the most meaningful learning experiences for our students.”