If all goes according to plan, by March 15 the vast majority of South Fork students between Montauk and Bridgehampton will be back in school in person, five days a week. The move by several local districts represents a shift back toward what school used to look like, but with the benefit of pandemic hindsight.
However, those plans largely hinge on Covid-19 infection rates continuing to decrease and teacher vaccination rates continuing to increase, school officials said this week.
The Springs School had only recently phased in four-day-a-week attendance for students, after months of running a hybrid plan in which they were in school for two days and received remote instruction for three days. The new five-day plan starts Wednesday. Returning for one more day meant revamping the whole daily schedule, school officials said. Fewer than 20 students, out of a population of about 600, will be on a fully remote learning plan.
"We're very excited to bring the kids back where they're meant to be," Christine Cleary, the Springs principal, said on Monday.
There will once again be eight periods of 49 minutes each, running the school day from 8:20 a.m. to 3 p.m. While there will be a few minutes between each class, students will remain in their seats without changing rooms for different subjects.
Along with that come changes to the Springs School "car line," that infamous drop-off and pickup system that often backs up traffic onto Old Stone Highway. Parents will be encouraged to have their children at school ahead of the 8:20 a.m. start, giving extra time for drop-off.
The Bridgehampton School starts its five-day plan tomorrow, impacting students in grades seven through 12 who were on a hybrid schedule and, until December, had been fully remote. Children up through sixth grade had already been in school full time.
At Pierson Middle and High School in Sag Harbor, high school students returned to their five-day plan on Monday. The move followed a family survey in which they committed to either the in-person or the remote plan.
"After reviewing the data, room capacity, and class rosters, we will be able to provide in-person instruction for families that opted for this instructional model," the district said in a letter to families on Saturday. "Our goal is to maximize access to in-person learning for those families who choose it. If the number of families choosing in-person learning becomes too many to maintain our safety protocols, we will shift back to the hybrid schedule we have used up to this point in the school year. This can change at any time."
Sag Harbor's middle and elementary school students had already been back full time. Schools in Montauk, Amagansett, Wainscott, and Sagaponack were also on full-time plans since the start of school in September.
Perhaps the biggest changes will be in the East Hampton School District. The high school's junior and senior classes and the middle school's eighth graders will return t five days starting March 15. Previously, most students were on a hybrid plan, in school two or three days per week depending on their particular grouping. There are plans to return sixth, seventh, ninth, and 10th graders after the spring break in early April.
"It's hard to believe that it's almost a year. March 13 -- I can still remember that day," when Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo closed schools for what was supposed to be two weeks, said Richard Burns, East Hampton's district superintendent. "I think we all are in agreement that we need to make a change now."
At the middle school, bringing everybody back will mean students are four feet apart from one another, instead of six. Double-masking will be implemented at the middle school, where spacing is tighter than at the high school. Charles Soriano, the middle school principal, explained during Tuesday's school board meeting that staff will almost overnight set up a second cafeteria, using the library. Bookshelves and books will be relocated. More plexiglass dividers will be brought in to keep students separate.
"There are no guarantees with this," Mr. Soriano said. "If conditions change, we're going to follow the medical advice and we may have to fall back to hybrid."
At the high school, James Crenshaw, the principal, said the campus's large size means students will still be six feet apart, though there are limits to how many can be in certain rooms at once, so there will be "overage" spaces in the auditorium and other places. The senior lounge will be annexed into the cafeteria, meaning the seniors will spend their free time in a new lounge carved out of the school library.
"I think it's something that's going to benefit all the students. Whether you're in ninth, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade, your child needs to be back in school," Mr. Crenshaw said.
At the John M. Marshall Elementary School, most students were already in school five days a week. As the second trimester comes to a close, a parent survey will be circulated to determine who wants to remain remote and who wants to come back in person. If the numbers come back similar to what they are now, the school will maintain its five-day plan with students spaced six feet apart. Karen Kuneth, the principal, said if the 70 fully remote students return in person, the school will have to space students four feet apart and require double-masking.
Covid-19 case numbers in the schools are still increasing in general, but the rate seems to have leveled off somewhat, mirroring what the community at large is seeing.
Districtwide, as of Monday, East Hampton has had 164 cases among students and staff members. Sag Harbor has reported 28 and the Bridgehampton School 30. The Amagansett School has had 10 cases, the Montauk School 30, and the Springs School 48. The Wainscott School has had four cases, and the Sagaponack School continues to report that it has had zero cases.