With COVID cases rising in the Capital Region, local school districts are working to figure out how they’ll handle instruction this year.

Albany City Schools released their plan for the 2021-2022 school year. It calls for all students to return five days a week starting Sept. 2, when the new school year begins.

Many students spent the majority of the last school year out of the classroom, learning remotely.

“It was alright,” says 15-year-old Ryan Hermitt. “I was, like, mostly in my house doing it, so it was kind of boring. I kind of felt like I wasn’t connected.”

Albany City Schools Superintendent Kaweeda Adams says experiences like Hermitt's were all too common, and it’s exactly why administrators are doing everything they can to get kids back in the classroom.

“Education is about relationship building, and it’s one of the things that teachers, administrators and support staff do with our students on a daily basis,” says Adams. “In person helps us to build stronger, more meaningful relationships with our students.”

The district will require masks inside school buildings and buses, regardless of vaccination status.

Wherever possible, the district will follow three feet of social distancing. Where they can’t, dividers will be used. Polycarbonate dividers will also be placed in all elementary classrooms, since kids under 12 aren’t eligible for the vaccine.

Students and staff will have their temperatures taken daily and the same daily cleaning and disinfecting protocols will continue that began at the start of the pandemic.

The full plan from the district can be found here.

“The first thing that we think about is the safety and well-being of our students,” says Adams. “We are strongly encouraging those who are 12 and older and who are able to get the vaccine. We are watching the data. We are watching the science, and we see that it does help.”

Hermitt will be a sophomore when school begins in a few weeks. He's looking forward to putting remote learning in the past.

“I feel like as long as we have our masks on, it’s better because we can basically be, like, up in person with the teachers and have more of a connection, or a connection with our friends and stuff, instead of just staying inside the house. So, I like it,” says Ryan. “I love it.”