Classes to remain online until Feb. 1

BOICEVILLE, N.Y. » The resumption of in-person classes in the Onteora school district has been delayed from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1.

The district announced Superintendent Victoria McLaren’s decision on Wednesday, a day after she told the Board of Education that the slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and changing metrics for closing schools convinced her the delay was necessary.

Speaking during a video conference meeting of the board Tuesday evening, McLaren said the district has tried to navigate the changing guidance about when in-person learning is prohibited.

“Our (Ulster County) Department of Health provided one ... plan that stated when a building within a school district has three or more positive COVID cases that impacted two or more classrooms, that would be required to be closed,” she said. “In mid-December, as cases were rising throughout the county ... they decided to amend it, and we received an updated testing and contact-tracing plan The updated metric in the new plan states that if any school in the district has more than 3 percent of their [staff and students] are COVID-positive, they are required to close and work with the Department of Health Rapid Response Team.”

McLaren said the county now is considering further changes that would base school decisions on sevenday rolling averages of COVID cases in “micro-cluster zones.”

McLaren did not provide a breakdown of COVID cases in the Onteora district by building, but she said some are nearing the level that would force a shutdown. The closure threshold at each site, she said, would be between three and five positive tests at the elementary schools and the middle school and nine at the high school.

The superintendent said there were 11 cases of COVID districtwide as of Tuesday, five presumed cases and 13 people in quarantine because of contact with infected persons.

McLaren said pushing back the resumption of inperson learning until Feb. 1 also will give teachers more time to schedule their vaccinations.