A state task force is working on a plan to reopen New York schools, where officials, teachers and parents will discuss how to carry out the big task while staying safe and healthy.
The New York State Board of Regents announced it will hold four regional virtual meetings this month to discuss what it'll take to reopen schools in the fall.
Each meeting will bring together more than 200 people. The regional groups are expected to provide input in nine areas that include:
Health and safety, teaching, students' social-emotional needs, special education, bilingual education, digital equity, fiscal issues, transportation facilities/nutrition and staffing.
Long Island's regional meeting is scheduled for June 24. The guidelines are set to be unveiled at the next Regents meeting July 13.
So far, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not decided whether school buildings will open this fall. He has named a Reimagine Education advisory board, which is expected to offer best practices when schools can reopen.
State Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa says it is critical to get feedback from the school districts about their individual needs.
"We are focused on the issue of recovery, rebuilding and renewing in the spirit of our schools," says Rosa. "Hearing their voices about what it's going to take to look at the building of this new world."
But Rosa says how schools reopen should be the purview of the Regents and the state Department of Education.
Jeanette Deutermann is a member of New York State Allies for Public Education, which will sit in on one of the meetings. She agrees with Rosa that the Regents should decide reopening plans in collaboration with individual school districts.
"These plans are going to have to be so specific to the individualized needs of very, very specific groups of kids that there's no way to have a statewide plan like the governor's task force," says Deutermann.