Serving Port Washington, Manorhaven, Flower Hill, Baxter Estates, Port Washington North and Sands Point
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Friday, August 28, 2020
Vol. 5, No. 35
Port WashingtonTimes HEALTH, WELLNESS AND BEAUTY
EX-SANDS PT. RESIDENT CUOMO EASES PROMINENT IN SENATE REPORT VOTING RULES
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Parents demand in-person option District claims teacher complaints nixed plans BY R O S E W E L D ON
PHOTO BY ROSE WELDON
Parents and elementary students in the Port Washington school district protest outside Schreiber High School on Monday afternoon. The demonstration came after Superintendent Michael Hynes announced last week that students in the district’s elementary schools would be receiving a hybrid of online and inperson schooling, rather than being in-person five days a week.
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 Elemen-
tary 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 inperson 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 posted to the district’s website on the morning after the school board meeting that while the state’s infection rate was decreasing and socio-emoContinued on Page 44
Port district sticks to hybrid, remote learning BY R O S E W E L D ON
ment that a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the Port After a week that included Washington school district has a change in date of the first day announced its reopening plan – of classes and an announce- but it won’t involve elementary
students returning full-time. In a letter issued Aug. 19, Superintendent Michael Hynes announced that the district would resume classes on Tuesday, Sept. 8, rather than Thursday, Sept. 3, with the delay needed to give more time to prepare the staff for COVID-19 protocols. Schools were already sched-
uled to be closed Monday, Sept. 7, in observance of Labor Day. “To ensure we have the proper time to orient our District staff to new protocols and procedures, including safety protocols, schedules, roles and responsibilities, assignments, and IT infrastructure, to name a few, we have decided to delay the opening of schools for stu-
dents to Tuesday, Sept. 8,” Hynes wrote. “This will give us two additional days —Thursday, Sept. 3 and Friday, Sept. 4 — for professional development and building preparation for the return of our students.” Another letter written by Hynes and sent out Aug. 18 said that on Aug. 16, the district Continued on Page 55
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