The Brewster Central School District will notify the state and local health department immediately upon being informed of any positive COVID-19 diagnostic test result by an individual within school facilities or on school grounds, including students, faculty, staff, and visitors of the Brewster Central School District. 

To assist the local health department with tracing the transmission of COVID-19, the Brewster Central School District has developed and maintained a plan to trace all contacts of exposed individuals in accordance with protocols, training, and tools provided through the New York State Contact Tracing Program.

Contract Tracing Plan

The Brewster Central School District is not equipped to conduct testing in the event of a large-scale outbreak.  We have a standing relationship with the Putnam County Department of Health and in the event that testing is required, we will defer to the Putnam county DOH for any required or relevant information.  This information will be disseminated through our communications platforms.

​Testing is readily available in our community. Students, staff or visitors requiring COVID-19 testing should contact their health provider, a local urgent care, federally qualified health center or visit the NYSDOH website to locate a nearby testing facility https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-test-site-near-you.

COVID-19 Testing Plan

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the educational landscape across our state, region and country.  This Remote Learning Plan is a reflection of our need to adapt to circumstances outside of our control and to use all of our resources and best thinking in order to provide the optimal learning environment and structures for our students.

Remote Learning Plan

Big Picture

50% In-Person Capacity

After much deliberation and planning, we have determined that in order to comply with social distancing mandates and to operate safely, our maximum capacity for in-person instruction each school day is 50% of our student population. Please know that we did not arrive at this decision lightly — we tried a multitude of scenarios in order to figure out a way to accommodate more students at a time given the social distancing guidelines. 

Cohorts

We will be dividing students into A and B cohorts based on last name. Accommodations will be made for households with different last names. Cohort A is roughly A - Le and Cohort B is roughly Li - Z. The final determinations need to be made, but that is our thinking for our cutoff at this point. 

In-Person Attendance

We will designate days of the week for each cohort to attend in-person instruction. For example, Cohort A will attend in-person instruction on Mondays and Thursdays and Cohort B will attend in-person instruction on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wednesdays will rotate between cohorts in order to ensure an equal number of in-person attendance days.

Calendar

These days will be fixed on the calendar and will not be impacted by unplanned days off (i.e. - emergency closure days). Feedback from our subcommittees included the need to identify these days well ahead of time for the planning of our families. A DRAFT version of these days can be found here.

In-Person Instruction

Prior to the School Day Beginning

If it is your son/daughter’s day to report for in-person instruction, parents are required to submit a health questionnaire attesting that your son/daughter does not have an elevated temperature and that they are not exhibiting any symptoms of illness. This will be required for each student each time they attend in-person instruction.

School Bus

If your son/daughter is taking District-provided transportation, they must wear a mask beginning with the moment that they enter the bus. Each student will be directed to a seat that ensures six feet of social distance from other students.  

In order to comply with social distancing guidelines, two tiers of transportation runs are necessary for each school. The buildings will accommodate students and will adjust schedules as needed.

Arrival at School

Temperature checks will be conducted as students arrive at school.  Details and specifics on how and what this will look like are still to be determined.  As the details are defined, we will share them with parents/guardians. Students will report immediately to their first class of the day. At the secondary level, students will be asked to not use lockers, as this will decrease the amount of transition time needed between classes and will reduce congregating in the hallway.  

Mask Wearing

Students will be expected to wear masks at all times, even when at six feet of social distance from others. Mask breaks will be built into the school day. Students will be able to remove their masks in certain designated areas (at a safe social distance from others) with adult permission and while eating lunch or breakfast. 

School Schedules

While the particulars of each building’s schedule is still being determined, we know the following at this time:

• Students will be cohorted as much as possible in an effort to reduce the number of transitions during the school day.
• The student day could be slightly shorter in order to accommodate our transportation needs.  If a student is dropped off on the earlier tier, they will be dismissed on the earlier tier as well.  
• There will be substantive and regular interactions between teachers and students, regardless of the mode of instruction.

Remote Learning

On the days in which students are not attending in-person instruction, they will be expected to participate remotely. The school day will look significantly different than it did from March on, with increased synchronous student-teacher interaction. Once each building’s schedule is finalized we will share it with you.