Communication/Family and Community Engagement

Reopening Plan Main Page | School Closures

To help inform our reopening plan, the District has sought feedback and input from stakeholders, including administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents/guardians of students, local health department officials and health care providers, employee unions and community groups. Engagement efforts included email updates on the internal Reopening Committee’s work, website updates, online surveys, creation of a Reopening Task Force, a special Board of Education meeting to discuss this plan, a series of virtual forums for staff and upcoming question-and-answer sessions for families K-12 and for students in grades 6-12.

The District remains committed to communicating all elements of this reopening plan to students, parents and guardians, staff and visitors. The plan is available to all stakeholders via the District website at (link), and will be updated throughout the school year, as necessary, to respond to local circumstances. The link to the plan appears on the District website homepage and in the features area at the top of each school’s homepage. Every effort has been made to ensure that the plan is accessible to all individuals in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A/AA. The plan can also be translated into other languages, via the G-Translate feature available on the District website. Languages currently supported by this feature include:

  • Albanian
  • Arabic
  • Bengali
  • Chinese
  • French
  • Gujarati
  • Hebrew
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Persian
  • Portuguese
  • Punjabi
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Turkish
  • Ukrainian
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese

As part of its planning for the reopening of schools and the new academic year, the District has developed a plan for communicating all necessary information to District staff, students, parents/guardians, visitors and education partners and vendors. The District will use its existing communication channels – including the District website, school District emails, School Messenger email, texts and phone calls, social media, regular mail – as well as appropriate signage and training opportunities to support the dissemination of consistent messaging regarding new protocols and procedures, expectations, requirements and options related to school operations throughout the pandemic. In addition to the G-Translate service available on the website, the translation service Lexakeet will be used to communicate with ENL families. If translation services are needed, please contact Luis Avilés, K-12 World Language and ENL Supervisor at 518-439-4921 x22048.

The District is committed to establishing and maintaining regular channels of communication and has reviewed and determined which methods have proven to be the most effective in communications with our school community. The District will rely on the District website, school District emails, School Messenger email, texts and phone calls, social media, regular mail to communicate news, requirements and updates related to reopening and in-person instruction, including social distancing requirements, proper wearing of face coverings and proper hand and respiratory hygiene. The information that we will share will be based on state guidance and customized for the Bethlehem Central School District by members of the District’s Reopening Committee’s Health and Safety Team.

In support of remote learning, the District will make computer devices available to students and teachers who need them. As a 1:1 learning community with one Chromebook for each BC student, we will ensure students have the devices for use throughout the school year. Prior to the start of the year, families will be surveyed to determine if there are additional access needs for families. The District will provide students and their families with multiple ways to contact schools and teachers during remote learning, including via the Student Information System and Parent Portal Aspen, a staff directory, an administrative directory and other contact information.

The District will use existing internal and external communications channels to notify staff, students and families/caregivers about in-person, remote and hybrid school schedules with as much advance notice as possible. This information will be shared via email through School Messenger and on the District website and by mail for any family without email access.

The District will follow its existing engagement and communication protocols with parents regarding the provision of special education services for their child. The District’s Director of Special Education and CSE Chair will work with special education families to ensure they have received all necessary information.

In addition, the District will make every effort to ensure that communication to parents/legal guardians is in their preferred language and mode of communication.

The District is committed to ensuring that all of its students and their families are taught and re-taught new expectations related to all public health policies and protocols. As part of this continuous training, the District will assess the best approach to communicating the information for each students’ age group and will provide frequent opportunities for students to review these policies and protocols throughout the year. This targeted education will help ensure that all students and their families know what is expected of them as they successfully return to the school setting. These trainings will cover:

  • Proper hand washing hygiene
  • Proper face-covering procedures (how to wear and remove)
  • Social distancing in classrooms, common areas, outdoors and on school buses (on buses to the extent practicable)
  • Respiratory hygiene
  • Identifying symptoms and informing appropriate school personnel when symptoms of COVID-19 are suspected (Families will be asked to attest that their child does not exhibit these symptoms daily using either an online application. If a child does exhibit any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, they will be asked to immediately contact the school nurse in their building.)

The District will create and deploy signage throughout the District to address public health protections surrounding COVID-19. Signage will address protocols and recommendations in the following areas:

  • Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Acceptable face coverings and requirements related to their wear
  • Hand washing
  • Adherence to social distancing instructions
  • Symptoms/prevention of COVID-19

In addition to signage, the District will encourage all students, faculty, staff and visitors through verbal and written communication to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and DOH guidance regarding the use of PPE through additional means such as faculty/staff meetings, email reminders, and video tutorials.

The District is committed to creating a learning environment that protects student and staff health, safety and privacy. Our District will operate under a standard procedure for addressing situations in which an individual has tested positive for COVID-19 or appears symptomatic. These procedures are outlined in the Health & Safety section of our reopening plan.

In the event that a student or staff member is sick or symptomatic, notification to exposed individuals will occur pursuant to the state’s contact tracing protocols as implemented by the Albany County Health Department. The District will not notify the wider community unless specifically directed to do so by local health officials.

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School Closures

The District is preparing for situations in which one or more school buildings need to close due to a significant number of students or staff testing positive for COVID-19 or a considerable regional increase in COVID-19 cases.

The District will be in constant communication with St. Peter’s Health Partners Slingerlands Pediatrics (our District school physicians) and with the Albany County Department of Health so that trend data for the region can be monitored. The District will also observe daily attendance rates in order to determine if any particular building or buildings are exhibiting higher than normal rates of absence. Based upon consultation with the Health Department, a school or District closure may be recommended.

The District may choose to modify operations in one or more schools prior to closing to help mitigate a rise in cases. School building administrators will communicate with each other regularly and, if needed, will consider closing school if absentee rates impact the ability of the school to operate safely. Internal and external communications will be employed immediately once a decision has been made regarding whether a school will be closed.

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