Seaford, Wantagh students to continue distance learning for 2019-20

Following a Friday directive from N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Seaford and Wantagh schools will remain closed to classroom teaching for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. Students will continue with distance learning, as the districts come to grips with a situation that changes almost daily.

The announcement came as Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths continued a steady decline. Seaford, Wantagh — including North Wantagh — and Levittown reported no new cases since Wednesday. But the state is still seeing nearly a thousand new cases a day, which Cuomo said was unacceptably high.

Speaking before the governor’s announcement, the superintendents of Seaford and Wantagh schools, Dr. Adele Pecora and John McNamara, respectively, both said the move was expected.

The two districts were already well on their way to fully equipping their students with the hardware needed to implement distance learning, even before the virus struck. Nevertheless, bringing both students and teachers up to speed has been demanding, said Thomas Lynch, executive director for instructional technology and STEM in the Seaford district.

In addition, “Not all parents are comfortable with the technology, and they’ve had to play a huge role in their children’s education” during the PAUSE, Lynch said.

Administrators praised the efforts of all their staff and said teachers have done yeoman work since the beginning of the lockdown. In addition to their responsibilities to their students, many are themselves parents — Lynch has three small children — and must supervise their instruction as well.

Both districts had already begun preparing for some form of modified instruction at least two weeks before the governor’s original March 16 order. “We were already closed because of a positive test result,” McNamara said. And Pecora sent out a letter on Friday, March 13, before the lockdown began, advising that such a move was likely imminent.

Statewide, the decision affects 4.2 million students in 700 public school districts, 89 SUNY and CUNY colleges, and 100 private colleges.

Deaths drop

For the first time in weeks, the number of overnight deaths dropped below 300 from Thursday into Friday — from 306 to 289, a 5.5 percent decline. New hospitalizations were also down.

The governor said social distancing practices, as mandated by the state, have prevented an estimated 100,000 Covid-19 cases, which he said would have overrun the hospitals and caused many more deaths.

“Our past actions changed the past trajectory,” he said.

The governor said colleges and school districts across New York must begin developing reopening plans, subject to approval by state officials. The governor added that no determination had yet been made about summer school. That announcement would be made in the coming weeks.

People should continue wearing their masks in public and keep up social distancing to protect themselves and others, Cuomo said.