Kingston school district’s inaction affects everyone

Dear Editor,

The Y Academy program (https://ymcaulster.org/y-academy/) is a cynical failure of the Kingston City School District to address the challenges of the pandemic.

The proposal by Superintendent Paul Padalino to return

K-6 students to school buildings for socially-distanced education was met with well-founded health concerns by the teachers. A critical failure was that the plan did not include input from the teachers themselves.

When parents reached out to Mr. Padalino before the district’s plan was due at the state level, we found that he was away on vacation. Helpful suggestions and creative solutions like outdoor education were dismissed.

Currently, teachers are required to teach their remote classes from the school buildings, bringing about the dilemma of what to do with their own children. It is not surprising that about a hundred Kingston teachers who have requested leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

And now, Ulster County has partnered with the YMCA to offer for-pay daytime child care in the very same Kingston school district buildings! So the health threats to teachers have moved to the YMCA employees. Yes, this is the cynical failure of the reopening plan.

I have offered ideas to the superintendent and school board that are viable. Besides using the abundant outdoor resources adjacent to schools for classrooms under tents, the Kingston school district could work with community partners around the city to replicate the idea of small educational pods for all students. All the puzzle pieces have been there all along, waiting to be part of the solution.

Japheth Wood Kingston, N.Y.

It is not surprising that about a hundred Kingston teachers who have requested leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.