District developing contingency plans
Thursday, March 12, 2020—Utica Academy of Science administrators are continuing to closely monitor guidance from local, state and federal officials on school district operations as it relates to COVID-19.
With Governor Andrew Cuomo’s March 12 announcement that New York state is banning all gatherings of more than 500 people, not including regular school instruction, school administrators are meeting to review upcoming events and to develop contingency plans in the event that the district is forced to cancel more events or activities or close a school.
At this time, there are no suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the school district or Oneida County. If there is a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the district, all members of the school community will be notified.
On March 9, the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Education released guidance that states if a student or staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19, the state Department of Health requires an initial 24-hour closure of the school to assess the situation and develop a plan to as to any further required closure or other necessary precautions.
In the event that health officials direct the district to close, administrators are developing plans to continue instruction and other critical administrative and student services.
The district will continue to update the community via the district website with any new information.
Any time-sensitive, critical information will be shared via the district’s SchoolMessenger notification system, which sends email, text message and phone call notifications, depending upon how parents subscribed to the system.
