On March 27, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he is extending to April 15 his executive order to close schools to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Fayetteville-Manlius schools were already closed through April 13 due to an executive order from Onondaga County; however, schools will now reopen on April 15 due to the governor’s announcement. Cuomo said in two weeks he will re-evaluate his order to close schools and may extend the closure at that time, if necessary.
The district is closely monitoring federal, state and local guidance and is preparing to extend its existing contingency plans for instruction, student support services, childcare and the delivery of school meals in case the school closure is extended past April 14.
Supporting the community through tech
Two Eagle Hill Middle School teachers are helping the community by 3D printing face shield parts to be donated to healthcare workers treating individuals infected with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
After reading a syracuse.com article about a local company asking for volunteers to help 3D print and assemble face shields, Eagle Hill technology teachers Bob Levy and Matt Six saw a community need they could help meet with school technology currently not in use because of the emergency school closure.
“The least we could do for our community is try and pitch in to help our healthcare workers that are on the front lines of this epidemic,” Six said.
They reached out to Principal Maureen McCrystal to ask if they could each take one of the school’s 3D printers home, along with some filament, so they could support the group’s efforts.
After a check-in with district administration, it was determined that their efforts would fall within board policy on equipment use, and that the cost to produce the parts would be minimal and not adversely impact the school’s ability to replace the school’s supply of filament.
Levy and Six are printing two parts for the face shields: the visor and clip. They began printing March 26 and delivered 6 visor parts that day and estimate they will be able to create and donate a total of at least 16 a day.
“After seeing news reports about front-line doctors and nurses reusing personal protective equipment that is meant to be disposed of after each use, and the local effort to get more equipment distributed to local hospitals, I knew we could do our part to help out,” Levy said. “I thought, we have the equipment, materials and capability to help out on behalf of the F-M community, so let’s get printing.”
April Parent Council canceled
The April 1 Parent Council meeting is canceled due to the emergency school closure.
The next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 1 in the F-M District Office large conference room. As of today, the district is scheduled to return to session on April 15.
Parent Council is a forum for Fayetteville-Manlius School District parents to meet informally with the superintendent and other district staff to discuss topics relevant to its students. The sessions are informal and open, and parents are an integral part of discussions that occur.
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