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Friday, August 28, 2020
Vol. 8, No. 35
HEALTH, WELLNESS AND BEAUTY
TOWN OKS AMAZON PLAN
CUOMO EASES VOTING RULES
PAGE 25-32
PAGE 4
PAGE 9
Give in-person option, say Port parents
GOOD GIRLS!
5-day in-school teaching sought for elementary-age students BY R O S E W E L D ON For Port Washington resident Henry Duarte, a father of two fourth-graders in the Port Washington school district, implementing virtual home schooling at the outset of the COVID-19 quarantine was “a disaster.” “I can’t home-school, I’m not a teacher, and I don’t pay taxes to be a home-school teacher,” Duarte said in an interview. “The virtual home schooling during the quarantine was a disaster, and I can’t do it again.” After the district announced that students at Guggenheim Elementary School, Manorhaven Elementary School, John J. Daly Elementary School, John Philip Sousa Elementary School and South Salem Elementary School would not have the option of a five-day in-person schedule for the coming school year, Duarte and other parents took action via petition and demonstration.
The lack of a full-time in-person option was announced at a meeting of the school board last Thursday, where it was announced that parents of students in kindergarten through fifth grade would have a choice of either fully virtual instruction or a hybrid of in-person and online schooling that would allow students to physically attend classes two days a week. An option to return full-time could then be available by Oct. 5, according to the district. The decision makes the Port district one of a small number of school districts not to offer full time in-person classes for elementary students, with the Roslyn school district, Great Neck school district, Manhasset school district and the North Shore school district, among others, all allowing young students to physically return for five days a week. District Superintendent Michael Hynes wrote in a letter postContinued on Page 44
PHOTO VIA INSTAGRAM, COURTESY OF NORTHWELL HEALTH
Australian labradoodles Bailey and Charlie, who work as therapy dogs at hospitals in the Northwell Health system, prepare for a virtual session.
Manhasset districts unveil reopening plans BY R O S E W E L D ON Two school districts in the Manhasset area have announced that they have developed models for reopening their schools in the fall which
address the effects and potential spread of the coronavirus. MANHASSET SCHOOL DISTRICT Parents of students in grades kindergarten through five at Munsey Park Elemen-
tary School and Shelter Rock Elementary School will be given the option of five days of in-person instruction, with some student moves necessary to accommodate this. Continued on Page 13
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