Stephen Penhollow, Falconer Central School superintendent, is pictured in his office Thursday. Falconer, like other local school districts, is finalizing plans for the return students in early September. P-J photo by Katrina Fuller

Area school districts are still finalizing plans for reopening this September.

While most have opening days and other details settled, questions remain over the masking issue. Area school officials were contacted by The Post-Journal this week to gauge where districts are at in the reopening process.

Falconer Central School Superintendent Stephen Penhollow said the district is focusing on its previous reopening plans that allowed them to bring their students back to school throughout the last school year.

“We were extremely fortunate that we were able to open (kindergarten) through (fifth grade) five days a week last year,” Penhollow said. “Then, in about mid-February, we brought back grades (sixth through 12th grade). Then, following the April break, we brought back grades (ninth through 11th). The model that we used, we feel is still very relevant to the proposed recommendations that are being sent to us by the New York State Education Department as of right now.”

Penhollow said the school district has most of its plans underway but is holding out for further guidance on face masks.

“I think, right now, the big piece that I think the most discussion is happening about in the schools is masking,” he said. “We’ve taken under consideration comments that we’ve heard as far as what the public thinks, as well as what the recommendations of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the New York State Education Department. So we’re looking at all available sources of information. The Center for Disease Control in the American Academy of Pediatrics and the New York State Education Department are making recommendations, but not mandates as of yet.”

Guidance can change from week-to-week — or day-to-day — as was seen from the last year and a half, Penhollow said.

“We all know that can change quickly and abruptly, and sometimes it changes multiple times within a very short period of time,” he said. “We are waiting and seeing at to what happens.”

Penhollow brought up that governorship of the state is changing, and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will be taking over next Tuesday. That may also have bearing on the situation, he said.

“I think Kathy Hochul has made it pretty clear that she will be providing more direction for schools,” he said. “We’ve been in communication with our families, and just said at this point, we have a very productive model that allowed us to be safe, that allowed us to provide good, solid instruction for kids in front of certified teachers. And worst-case scenario, we’re opening the way we closed.”

Penhollow said the most important priority is to get students back into the schools all five days a week. He said he believes more guidance will be provided in the coming weeks, and school districts will have to adjust just as they have throughout the pandemic.

“The good thing is that we have dedicated people — dedicated teachers and staff that regardless of the pandemic show up every day to educate and transport and support our kids. It happens every day,” Penhollow said. “That’s a variable that’s consistent with our nurses, our aides and our teaching assistants, our Board of Education and our administrators. They’ve kept the end goal in mind, and that’s doing educationally what’s best for our kids. Sometimes, what’s best educationally does not make everyone happy — but we’re required to follow mandates, and we will follow those mandates as they’re passed down. But, we want to create an avenue where our kids can come to school and can learn safely.”

The school will open officially on Sept. 7. Penhollow said question and answer sessions for the school district will be announced in the near future. The dates have yet to be determined. Penhollow said parents will receive a push notification from the school on these sessions, and information will be available on the school’s website.

Sherman Central School Principal Ann Morrison said the district has been meeting with the reopening committee the district used to create a reopening plan for the previous year. At this point, Morrison said the district is certain there is a 100% mask mandate during the transportation of students. That guidance came from the documents the New York State Education Department recently released, she added.

“That’s kind of where we are so far,” Morrison said. “Which is not very far.”

The district will open schools on Sept. 7.

“We are looking to be fully in person for Pre-K through 12th grade,” Morrison said. “We are reviewing the guidance that is out currently, meeting with the reopening committees and reviewing any of the guidance that comes from NYSED and the county health department. We’re looking to have our plans finalized by the end of next week.”

Bemus Point Central School Superintendent Joe Reyda said the district has started the process of re-examining the original reopening plan they put together last August. The reopening committee has been called upon to help put together the plan and consists of students, parents, community members, staff, teachers and non-instructional support staff. Reyda said he wanted to get the committee’s input to examine what worked best last year and focus on what will get all students back into the school buildings.

“We have this past Monday, the 16th, I presented the New York State Education Department guidelines to our board to make them aware that this is what we are looking at,” Reyda said. “Then on Tuesday, we reconvened our original committee and again, reviewed those guidelines released by the Chautauqua County Health Department, and then looked to update our existing plan.”

Reyda said the committee has made some recommendations and adjustments, and the district is working to put those into action in the reopening plan. He said the district will be scheduling community presentations on the plan with one session being geared toward the elementary school and one geared toward the high school. Reyda said his hope is to have the meetings scheduled before the start of the school year. He said the meeting will cover topics such as vaccinations, masking and screening. Reyda said a school messenger phone alert will be sent to parents regarding the meetings, and the information will be available on the school website.

“(The plan) is not in the final form yet, so I guess the only thing I feel comfortable sharing is that when we went into this, our goal was to create a plan that really provided for the health and safety of all our students and staff, and also one that allowed us to bring back all of our children to school,” Reyda said. “Last year, we were able to have an in-person instructional model at our elementary school, but we just weren’t able to at Maple Grove because of the 6-foot social distance rule.”

Bemus Point Central School District will begin the school year on Sept. 7.