Town Hall meeting

 26-August-2021

   On Thursday-26-August the Bogota School District held a Town Hall meeting about the opening of the 2012-22 school year. This was presented by Superintendent Mr. Damian Kennedy along with the Administrative staff. 

  Superintendent Mr. Damian Kennedy gave an overview of what the District's plan for opening schools will be, along with how the State of New Jersey guild-lines will affect Bogota.  The main points Superintendent Kennedy made was that  masks must be worn by all Students and Staff at all times. He added at masks can be removed during lunch,when outside, and attending gym classes. Superintendent Kennedy also said that there is a “mask break” time to be scheduled. Superintendent Kennedy stressed that Bogota, and the other schools in the the State are following the guild-lines from the State of New Jersey Dept. of Health and Dept of Education. Some of the rules Bogota must follow are, that there will not be an option for virtual learning to start the school year. This is based on the current number of cases in New Jersey at this time. 

  He also answered all the questions that the viewers asked on line. 

  He further explained the District opening plan. For Bogota, the distric,t is opening the school year based on pre-covid rules. Full schools days will start on Tuesday-7-September (Friday-3-September will be a half day.) Lunch will be provided, and be free to all Student to start the year. Extra classrooms may be used for Lunch to reduce overcrowding. Sneeze guards will be in place, and an option to allow one side of a table to remove their masks to eat, then the opposite side later. The District is asking Parents to do a wellness check of their Students before leaving home. Students will not have a temperature check as they enter a building due to the volume of Students arriving in the morning. If a Student appears to be unwell they will be sent home at that time. New portable Air Conditioning units have been purchased, but can not all operate at once. The rooms that appear to have the highest temperature will have the unit first, then the units will be moved to adjacent rooms as needed. There will other fresh air components installed as well.

  All Staff, and regular visitors will have to be fully vaccinated by 18-October. Student will not be required to be vaccinated, but will required to be quarantined at home if they test positive, or are in contact with a person who has tested positive. There will be frequent cleaning of all building on a regular basis. 

  Any Student with special health needs are still required to attend school in person. If there are reasons they can not attend a note from a Family Doctor must be supplied, and check by the District’s health professionals. Superintendent Kennedy said that the District will follow the health department guild-lines, but would like any family that may have concerns about their Student to contact him directly.

   There was also a discussion about the new After care program for the district. Due to staffing limitations the after care program will be outsourced to a third party. This outside company will need to be certified by the State Board of Education, but is planned to be fully operational by the second week of school. The Aftercare will cost $217.00 per month and operate five days a week. On regular school days it will run from 3:00p to 6:00p. On half days the aftercare will be open from 1:00p to 6:00p, and all day on School Holidays. The Aftercare programs will include study and homework time. Activities and exercise period, and a snack break.  Student who qualified for the free lunch program will be exempted for any fees. 

 He added that any High School Student looking for Community Service credit could volunteer with the after care program. Also if any Parent who would like to volunteer please contact him via his email. One other item Superintendent Kennedy mentioned was that the St. Joseph’s parking lot will be available for drop-off and pick-up of Students for the Middle School. Members of the Bogota Police will be on duty to assist with traffic. 

 For more information about the District new School year open guild-lines they are available at: english & español

  The state of New Jersey State masks guideline can be read, in English at : (NJ School Mask Mandate) por Español, or other languages,  Haga clic en el botón Traducir. 

  The next Board of Education meeting will be on Tuesday-31-August and is scheduled to start at 7:00p. This will be a hybrid meeting at the High School Cafeteria location on the second floor of 2 Henry Luthin pl. and by a Zoom webinar at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84365950950 

- One tap mobile : US: +13017158592,,84365950950# or +13126266799,,84365950950#

- Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 9128 

Webinar ID: 843 6595 0950 International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdWf6hXZ

For more information please go their web-site at:  www.bogotaboe.com

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