Fayetteville-Manlius School District’s March 23 board of education meeting will be available for real-time viewing online.
Amid concerns of the COVID-19 public health crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently issued an executive order exempting municipal and school boards from provisions of the state Open Meetings Law that require public access to locations where government meetings are conducted.
To comply with this order, the F-M Board of Education’s March 23 meeting will be available for public viewing and participation via YouTube Live only. The meeting will stream in real-time on F-M’s official YouTube channel beginning at 6 p.m. and will be archived on the channel for later viewing.
The meeting agenda is limited to items that require immediate attention. It will include time for public comment, which viewers can participate in through YouTube Live Chat. An interactive chat window will be accessible to online audience members during this portion of the meeting.
Board members and district leaders will be attending the meeting in-person and by telephone conferencing. Those in attendance will practice social distancing.
State assessments suspended
The New York State Board of Regents and state Education Department announced Friday, March 20, that the 2020 elementary- and intermediate-level state assessments have been suspended for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.
“It is most important that during the time of closure, schools are able to continue to focus their efforts toward local school and community needs, as they have been doing, and not be concerned about state assessments. NYSED has applied for federal waivers for testing, accountability and reporting requirements,” according to a statement from Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Interim State Education Commissioner Shannon Tahoe.
This suspension applies to the following New York state testing programs:
- New York State Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Test;
- New York State Grades 3-8 Mathematics Test;
- New York State Grade 4 Elementary-Level Science Test
- New York State Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Science Test;
- New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) in Grades K-12; and
- New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA) for students with severe cognitive disabilities in Grades 3-8 and high school.
The state has yet to give guidance on the end-of-June Regents exams, and school officials are still awaiting news from The College Board regarding the Advanced Placement exams.
Continued communications
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