BUFFALO (WBEN) - As Governor Andrew Cuomo has tasked school districts around the state with generating reopening plans for September, the Buffalo School District has created a confidential draft of plans.
"There was a so-called plan that we got this Friday, that is actually no plan - it has no details, no delineation - all it is is generalities," said Rumore. "Besides getting a plan that has absolutely no details - it's not a plan, it's a plan to go nowhere - we also sent them the concerns that teachers have for their safety and the safety of the students."
Rumore then described what the federation would like to see in future plans.
"First of all, they tell you what you should do, but they don't tell you how to go about it," Rumore continued. "For example, how are you going to take each child's temperature? How are you going to keep social distancing in the classrooms? Exactly what procedures in the building are going to be used when students have to change classes? What is going to happen on the school buses? Who's going to be in charge of making sure that students keep their distance? What's going to happen if a child lifts up his or her mask and sneezes in the classroom? There are absolutely not details, it's just filled with generalities."
"To be honest with you, the details are still being worked on..." said Scott. "This is an unprecedented time that we're faced with - things are changing by the day, and so plans may intentionally lack some detail because things are changing, but we also have an expectation to respect the autonomy and independence of professionals in school buildings to implement the learning that we're going to be implementing as we move forward."
Scott is also pessimistic of a return to full in-person schooling come September, even to the point where he insists the idea is impractical. He attended a law conference on the reopening of schools through the NYS School Boards Association.
"My general impressions from that conference - it is going to be a huge challenge for districts, especially districts in urban districts as large as Buffalo Public Schools, to implement all of the guidelines safely with all of our students returning full-time," said Scott, while noting that they already have packed classes in small rooms.
"Based on what I heard [Tuesday], one of the attorneys said, 'If you cannot ensure that you can open your building safely, you should not be opening it as an in-person school - you're going to have to provide virtual learning or a hybrid model,'" Scott continued. "The more and more I'm learning, the more it's making me believe that it's going to be an almost impossible task to have every single one of our students attending in our school buildings full-time. There has to be some sort of flexibility in scheduling, as well as some hybrid models of virtual and in-person."