WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. — After weeks of confusion and controversy stemming from a decision to delay the start of school for remote middle and high school students, the Williamsville Central School District announced its relaunch plan timeline Wednesday.
The new plan will be a three step phase-in process starting with the middle school. All students in the hybrid instructional model in grades 5-12 will be phased into the classroom by October 26.
The timeline does not affect the district’s current K-4 instructional model, according to the district.
“Upon thorough review, our committee determined a phased-in model was critical to help us support our staff of approximately 700 teachers with the transition to the model,” said acting Superintendent Dr. John McKenna.
McKenna said it was necessary to ensure the district’s technology needs were met to effectively deliver a quality model for students and staff.
The timeline is as follows:
- October 13, 2020: Grades 5-6
- October 19, 2020: Grades 7-8
- October 26, 2020: Grades 9-12
When the relaunch plan begins in October, students, whether remote or in-person, will continue to follow their daily class schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, Dr. McKenna said.
“I’m happy that we are returning before January 4, but I do not understand why they need another month to get us back into the building,” said Williamsville North senior class president Jacob “Cubby” Mentowski, reacting to the news of the relaunch plan.
Ben Terhaar, the senior class vice president at Williamsville East, is relieved to know the timeline for restarting in-person instruction was bumped up.
He said, "Nothing is ever perfect but it's definitely more ideal than the original plan was to January 4, that was just way too far in the future."
Terhaar, along with other student leaders, met with district officials Wednesday evening to go over the latest plans. He says district leaders have been listening to their concerns.
"We were very impressed because at our original meeting we talked about our plans for reopening and [the acting superintendent] actually ended up implementing a lot of those same ideas that we wanted," he said.