On March 16, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced that two county residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and that all schools in the county are to close as of 4 p.m. March 16 through April 14.
McMahon’s announcement moves up to Tuesday, March 17, Fayetteville-Manlius School District plans to begin serving eligible students breakfast and lunch through its free and reduced-price meals program. Teachers will be reaching out to their students’ families by March 19 to begin offering online instructional materials.
Superintendent Craig J. Tice announced on March 14 that F-M classes and all extracurricular events and activities were canceled beginning March 16 through April 14 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Health officials are recommending that people avoid large group gatherings and practice social distancing of six feet.
Let’s Talk: COVID-19
The district is aware that many in the community have questions or concerns related to the school closure. To address the community’s questions and concerns, the district is opening its Let’s Talk! platform, which is a web-based, two-way communications tool that allows anyone to share concerns or questions with district administrators at any time.
The interactive software is designed to streamline conversations and is not intended to be used for communicating urgent messages.
Technology availability
If you have not been contacted by the school district and are in need of technology, please call 315-692-1111 or email helpdesk@fmschools.org to request a district-owned Chromebook.
For those families who have already contacted the district, Chromebooks will be available for pickup at the F-M High School House 1 Foyer (the single-point of entry near the auditorium) 9-11 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 19, on a one-per-family in need basis (not a convenience).
Parents and/or guardians will be required to show photo identification and sign an acceptable use agreement and liability/damage waiver when picking up a district-owned Chromebook.
If you had not already contacted the school district, a Chromebook will not be reserved for you during the distribution period.
Schoology
Information is available for those families that need help accessing the district’s Schoology learning management system platform.
Free WiFi for students
Beginning March 16, Charter Communications will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription and at any service level up to 100 Mbps, according to Charter’s website.
Installation fees will be waived for new student households. To learn more and enroll, visit their website.
Personal belongings
For families who need to retrieve from their child’s school personal belongings, such as musical instruments, students will be able to pick up personal items from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 19.
Continued communications
In this rapidly developing situation, the district will continue to update the community via the district website with any new information and frequently asked questions.
Any time-sensitive, critical information will be shared via the district’s SchoolMessenger notification system, which sends email, text message and phone call notifications, depending upon how parents subscribed to the system.
More COVID-19 information and previous F-M COVID-19 communications