In the halls of Amsterdam High School, new textbooks are ready to be distributed to students for the new school year.

“This is unprecedented,” said Richard Ruberti, the superintendent at the Greater Amsterdam School District. “There’s been such a disruption to the education process.”

He says the district is on path to offer in-person, remote, and hybrid model learning this year.

The Greater Amsterdam School District was one of 107 districts Governor Cuomo said that has not submitted its reopening plan Monday. Ruberti says that’s not the case.

“From my perspective, it was frustrating because we put a tremendous amount of time, and for my colleagues, as well, put in so much time into this planning, making sure that we encompassed all students,” Ruberti said.
 
He says they submitted the reopening plan on July 30. Ruberti believes the hold-up is a small component for the Department of Health, which was confusing. But he says the matter has been revolved and submitted to the state.

“It was one link for the Department of Health,” Ruberti said. “You just put our school link on there and answer one question, so it was 99.5 percent completed.”

In statement, Cuomo’s senior advisor Rich Azzopardi said, “Despite clear guidance provided to these schools, which included a link to the DOH portal, some districts in follow-up calls said they filed with the State Education Department - which is not an executive agency - but didn’t file with DOH.”

“We’re allowing for social distancing. We’re requiring of wearing of masks, sanitizing, following all the CDC guidelines,” Ruberti said.

He says the reopening plan was put together through forums with parents, students, and teachers.
Ruberti says that will continue Wednesday as district officials plan to host a community forum and meet with the teacher’s association.