October 29, 2021

Dear Beacon Community:

I wanted to provide a few key updates to you this weekend.

Thank you!

Thanks to the community and all who voted to support our capital project.  We will begin work on it immediately and the project will be done over the Summer/Fall of 2022 and 2023 and we will keep you updated throughout. I also just wanted to take a step back and thank everyone for a great first two months of the school year!  Thanks to our teachers, administrators, and staff who have gotten us off to such a great start.  Thanks to our families for hanging in there with us through all of the twists and turns of our now third school year impacted by COVID-19.  This has not always been the easiest path we have all been on during this time but I appreciate all of the hard work and support of everyone in this community to help our children.  It means a lot.  

Update on Matteawan Road Closure

The Matteawan Road closure will not allow cars to drive past Fishkill Correctional Facility beginning on Monday, November 1.  Busses will be allowed to keep using the road so we do not have to adjust bus schedules.  For folks who have used this road to get to Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School please adjust your driving times on Monday.  We will be monitoring the roads with the City of Beacon and will do what we can to make adjustments as we learn more about the impact of this change in real time.  The BCSD Board of Education is advocating for a  reconsideration of this closure.  Despite these efforts and they are ongoing,  the road will be closed to car traffic starting on Monday.

COVID-19 Updates

The New York Department of Health gave each county health department the option to use certain practices.  Dutchess County supports the use of these practices and so does the Beacon City School District, however, it may take us some time to get them into place.  Here they are:

1. “Test to Stay”  allows students who are close contacts of a COVID-19 case to stay in school if they are tested daily with a rapid test.  We strongly support this.  However, we do not have the testing capability in place yet, we should soon though and we will keep you updated.  We have ordered the tests and when they arrive we will make this option available to students and families who choose to use it.
2. “COVID-19 Testing to Permit Return to School after Symptoms” allows people who are vaccinated or have had COVID in the last 90 days to return to school with a negative rapid antigen test result.  We support this as well.
3. “Test Out of Quarantine” allows individuals to return from quarantine at day 7 provided a negative result from a “diagnostic specimen test” and no symptoms are evident.  We support this as well. 

If you want to see the original text from the NYDOH, here it is: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/10/tts-and-toq-memo.pdf

When we learn more information about vaccination clinics, we will share that information with you.

Diversity Committee

We will meet next Thursday at 7:00 on Zoom.  We will also develop a schedule for working groups focused on different areas to meet in person.  We will share more details about how the meetings will work on Wednesday of next week.

Have a great weekend!

Matt