Common Council asks about reopening plan

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Buffalo Common Councilmember Chris Scanlon wanted to hear from Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash at Tuesday's community development committee meeting, but instead heard from Dr. Will Keresztes about whether the district could reopen schools sooner than February as Cash had noted last week.

Keresztes says information he gives the council is the same as it would come from Cash. Keresztes is chief of intergovernmental affairs for the district. He notes Cash does not have the only say in the matter. "We have several reopening committees. Parents are participating robustly. There is healthy, productive, disagreement in which we try to come together to come up with the best solution for children," says Keresztes.

Keresztes reminded lawmakers Cash was the first superintendent in the state to close in light of COVID19. "He secured authorization from the board to close schools when everybody, and I mean everybody, was panicked about if Buffalo closes, what will it mean," says Keresztes, who noted Cash did not care about political fallout, just the safety of students. "When he closed, about five minutes later, the governor and other school districts closed because they realized the reckoning was coming. Nobody was complaining then that Dr. Cash was first out of the gate."

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Keresztes says while the district can compensate for learning loss, it cannot compensate for the loss of life as a result of the virus, which is a key consideration on when Cash wants students back. "He has the backing and the constant counsel of the top infectious disease doctor in Buffalo. The community spread is too powerful to put 34,000 children back in school, 10,000 adults and all of the connectors to those children and adults," notes Keresztes.

Scanlon says he had questions about schools not being cleaned but they weren't addressed, and called for a plan to be released if there is one. Keresztes says principals were asked to come up with plans for reopening their own schools.
"(Cash) made sure every principal had an approved plan by their associate superintendent. But it wasn't some individual loose plan. It was a plan based on a very specific group of what is necessary to reopen not just any school, your school," notes Keresztes. Keresztes also addressed Scanlon's concerns about the complications of large districts' plans on reopening, like New York City. "Not if you do it our way," Keresztes interrupted. "We try to make sure it wouldn't be out of control complicated and that's why we had to bring in principals up front."

Keresztes says he will have staff reach out to the Common Council on maintenance, special education, and other issues. "I will also make sure a link is set to council staff with regard to the approved plans ready to go for reopening," added Kersztes.

Common Council Ulysses Wingo says he'd like those links on the district's site so parents can take a look at the transition plan. "Once the date is out there, folks are itching, myself included, to see the plan and fluidity of the plan to see how it's changing as the impact of the coronavirus changes," says Wingo.

The council asked Keresztes for an update in two weeks.