Coronavirus | Ausable Valley Central School District

01/19/2021

Dear Patriot Families,

I am again reaching out to update you on our school district’s plan for instruction over the next couple of weeks. I have continued to participate in weekly meetings with our Clinton County Health Department Officials, local Superintendents, and almost daily with our Administrative Team. We continue to discover that COVID-19 is impacting our school and communities and hindering our ability to open and operate safely. As I have stated previously, we will continue to follow the data and the recommendations from our health experts and remain focused on the safety of all as we move forward.

Based on our latest review, we have decided that all AVCS students will remain under remote instruction until at least Monday, February 1st.

As you are aware, the new anticipated return date mentioned above for AVCS will be entirely dependent on further information that we receive from the County regarding COVID cases in our area. This could be further extended. We will continue to analyze the data thoroughly and will review at our weekly meetings with the Clinton County Health Department. We will do our best to make informed decisions with the ultimate goal of ensuring the safety of all we serve.

Below are some of the key factors in our decision to extend to February 1st:

We have seen a sharp spike in the number of AVCS employees and students who are under either a Quarantine Order or an Isolation Order. This directly impacts our ability to safely operate school.

Our county continues to see the effects of the holiday surge. They’ve reported an additional 180 cases over just the past few days. The cases are not going down at this time and the numbers are significant.

Both CCHD and ECHD have been very open and honest in saying that they are overwhelmed by the number of cases and in fact are several days behind in the communication of quarantine orders to individuals required to quarantine. This could easily translate to people entering our buildings that should be under quarantine.

CCHD has repeatedly acknowledged that our decisions to remain remote, while difficult, have made a positive impact on the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

We have referenced New York’s Microzone Cluster initiative in the past (yellow, orange and red). Local school districts were recently informed that the State is no longer adhering to the initial metrics for classifying areas under this initiative. Under the past criteria, Clinton and Essex counties would have met the classification requirements for a Red Zone. The requirements to exit this classification would have been a 10-day period of decline in the positivity rate and a 3-day positivity rate of less than 4%. While we have seen a small decline in our positivity rate, we are still well in excess of 4%

We recognize that these are very difficult times for everyone. I am confident that prioritizing everyone’s health and safety is of the utmost importance. On a positive note, we are now starting to see the vaccine roll out take place in our region and we hope that this progress will increase even more over the next few weeks and months. It remains very important that we continue to follow the guidelines as illustrated by our health care officials as we are currently still seeing the negative results of those guidelines not being followed over the holiday season. It’s going to take all of us and we will get there together.

Please note, if you are already receiving meals, we will be updating that delivery schedule soon and you do not need to contact us again in order to continue receiving meals. If you would like to be added to the list, please remember that all children under 18-years old are eligible, please contact Chelley Martineau at patriotmeals@avcsk12.org.

I want to thank this entire community once again for your support and cooperation during this time of crisis. I know that I can say with absolute confidence that all AVCS educators want nothing more than a return to in-person instruction. We remain committed to achieving that goal and optimistic that much better days are ahead for us all.

Respectfully,

Paul D Savage II

AVCS Superintendent

01/11/2021

Good evening Patriot Families, this is Paul Savage, Supt of the AuSable Valley Central School District with an important updated message regarding a schedule change for our school district.

I am reaching out to update you on our school district’s latest plan for instruction over the next few weeks. As I have continued to participate in weekly meetings with our Clinton County Health Department Officials, local Superintendents, and daily meetings with our Administrative Team where we continuously review the data and numbers with COVID.

I have decided that at this time all AVCS students will remain under remote instruction for an additional 4 school days beyond the originally planned return date of January 19th. Our new goal will be to hopefully return to our hybrid plan model starting on Monday, January 25th. For more data and specific information regarding what has led to this decision, please see my letter which is now posted on our AVCS Facebook page and school website.

Additionally, please note that CVES has also announced their move to remote instruction for the next two weeks meaning that any AVCS student attending BOCES or CV-Tech will also be under remote instruction with an anticipated return date of Monday, January 25th as well.

As always, we thank you for your teamwork and patience as we move forward Patriot strong!

Thank you and have a wonderful evening!

Click here to find an accompanying letter of data and key factors behind this extension.

12/16/2020

Good Evening,

This is Paul Savage, Superintendent of the AuSable Valley Central School District, with a very important update.

As we prepare to return to the hybrid model on January 19th, we are sending out information today asking families to indicate their preferred learning model commitment. Please see our AVCS Facebook page, AVCS website, and your email for the specific information, including new COVID Testing Information and Consent Forms now required by the District.

Families will need to reach out to their school offices by Tuesday, December 22nd in order to change their learning model and update any transportation information. Your cooperation with this request is greatly appreciated.

As anticipated, we are seeing COVID cases significantly increase in our immediate region. Your continued patience, commitment, and support is tremendously appreciated and we want to remain active partners in doing the very best we can for all of our students and families.

I want to continue to express our sincere appreciation for the wonderful efforts that you and your children have made throughout this challenging process. Please continue to reach out to your building principals with any questions or concerns. We are here to help.

Thank you and may you have a very safe and Happy Holidays!

Respectfully,
Paul D Savage II
AVCS Superintendent

Parents can find a link to the important letter about updating your chosen learning model here.

12/9/2020

Good Evening, this is Paul Savage, Superintendent of the AuSable Valley Central School District with a very important message for all families and students of our school district.

My hope had been that I would be able to call you tonight with better news including a plan to bring our hybrid students back for a week of in-person instruction with the ultimate goal of creating some sense of normalcy and positive reconnection prior to the Christmas and New Year’s Break. Something we all could certainly use right now! However, as was predicted and feared, there has been a significant spike in community cases over the Thanksgiving Holiday Break with the number of new positive cases of COVID increasing in all 3 counties has a higher 7 day average positivity rate than the New York City Region. While only a few of these cases have been related to our school personnel and/or students, DOH and CDC data is showing that even one positive case carries with it the needed quarantining of about 30 people or more on average. This is significant to a school community our size, one positive student would likely result in the quarantine of all students and instructional staff in that classroom and potentially beyond. Additionally, bus drivers, custodial, and other support staff would likely be affected as well. These significant increases in COVID cases were predicted by the DOH and that prediction, based on scientific evidence and individual review of our school district demographics, was the main reason for my original decision to move to the remote learning model for 2 weeks through the December 14th timeframe. This decision was hailed by the Clinton County Dept. of Health and recognized as helping to limit the community spread.

Unfortunately, DOH is predicting that we will continue to see an increase in cases over the next number of days and then experience another even larger spike in confirmed COVID cases after the Christmas/New Year’s Holiday Season. Therefore, as much as we all wish we could see our hybrid students in person from December 15th until the December Holiday Break, I just cannot justify risking the safety of our students, families, and staff for what equals to be only a few days of in person learning. For the safety of everyone in the AVCS community, our students will now remain with the remote learning model through January 18 th with the hybrid class schedule expected to begin on January 19th . Even though our ultimate goal is to keep students in person as much as possible because the rates of in school cases are generally lower due to our safe practices – we can’t ignore what’s happening in our communities and the current spread cannot be underestimated or overlooked.

Hopefully, this will once again help our community with any potential spread and in turn the virus will have a minimal impact on our students, families and staff when we return. Please note, as with anything COVID, this return date is dependent on any additional updates, regulation changes and /or COVID developments. As we have said throughout this process, these are unprecedented times in education and it is truly heartbreaking to have to make these tough decisions. Truth be told – it just plain stinks! You have been outstanding support for your children during these trying times, and we cannot thank you enough for all you are doing for your children and our community. Better days are ahead and the promising signs of vaccine progress gives us great hope for the future where we can all be together again.

Please note that you will be hearing from me regarding our January 19th return as that date approaches. In the meantime, please continue to reach out to your child’s Principal with any questions, concerns, or needs you may have. Your communication and feedback is an important part of this process and we are here to help. Together we will get through this Patriot Strong!
I wish you a very healthy and Happy Holiday Season.

Thank you and have a good night.
Respectfully,
Paul D Savage II
AVCS Superintendent

11/6/2020

Good morning AVCS families and colleagues,

After review of the Clinton County Health Department’s reversal of their mask mandate, linked below for your reference, we are happy to announce the reinstatement of mask breaks per our original ReOpening plan. Breaks will still be conducted outdoors as weather permits, but again may also take place indoors when social distancing can be enforced.

We’ve heard from some of our families who are frustrated with the back and forth nature of this topic. We share in that frustration and we feel that this most recent decision is ultimately the best one for our students — allowing indoor mask breaks when properly social distanced.

Respectfully,

Paul D. Savage II

AVCS Superintendent

>>> Click here for the full Clinton County Health Department Press Release <<<

11/3/2020

Dear Patriot families and colleagues:

An AuSable Valley Central School District high school student has tested positive for COVID-19 and is currently in isolation. The student has been a full remote-learner for the entire school year, and initial contact tracing efforts by the Clinton County Health Department (CCHD) are underway. CCHD contact tracing protocol is being followed and those potentially impacted will be contacted directly by the CCHD. As the student has not been on campus at any point this year, the CCHD is not currently requesting any additional assistance with contact tracing from the District.

Please note – there are no changes to District operations at this time.

As is outlined in the District’s reopening plan, the District will continue to coordinate our response with the CCHD in the event of any confirmed case. The Clinton County and Essex County health departments have been positive partners throughout this pandemic and we appreciate their continued support and guidance.

We thank you for your continued support as we strive to keep our students, staff and community safe and healthy.

Respectfully,

Paul D. Savage II

AVCS Superintendent

9/29/2020

Clinton County Health Department Return to School Update

9/14/2020

New York State is hosting updates from the Department of Health on the number of people testing positive for COVID-19. Each school in our district has an individual entry in their database. Links to each school’s reporting data can be found as follows:

Keeseville Elementary School

Ausable Forks Elementary School

Ausable Valley Middle School

Ausable Valley High School

9/4/2020

An important update about MS/HS Remote Learning can be found here.

Chromebook Delivery: On Tuesday, September 8th chromebooks will be delivered to those who have not picked them up.

USDA Extends Free Meals for Kids through December 31, 2020

AuSable Valley Central School will provide free meals to anyone 18 and under.

If you have NOT already signed up for meal deliveries and wish to order meals please complete the following survey by September 11, 2020. The link to the survey can be found here.

These meal deliveries will start on September 21, 2020.

8/28/2020

An important message from Superintendent Paul Savage can be found here.

A parent letter from the principals about school reopening can be found here.

The Parent Reopening Form can be found here.

A link to the reopening letter can also be found here.

Contact Tracing, COVID Testing, and Remote Learning Plans can be found here.

Patriot Parent FAQs can be found here.

The third AVCS reopening parent forum was held Wednesday, August 19th at 4:30pm. A recording of the meeting can be found here.

The second AVCS reopening parent forum was held Thursday, August 13th at 2pm. A recording of the meeting can be found here.

The first AVCS reopening parent forum was held Wednesday, August 12th at 6pm. A recording of the meeting can be found here.

8/10/2020

The AVCS reopening letter can be found here.

8/7/2020

Message from Superintendent Savage:

This morning, the Governor announced that schools should reopen, in some form, with a safe plan. On August, 10th, Monday afternoon, we will be sending out a message indicating many details of the AVCS plan. We appreciate your patience and support.

7/31/2020

Reopening Plan

You can find a link to the district’s reopening plan here.

5/1/2020

School Closure Extended

In his daily briefing, Governor Cuomo extended the closure of schools through the end of this academic year. Distance learning will continue until at least that time. More details will follow.

3/12/2020 (Updated on 4/9/2020)

Cancelled Events

As the CoV-19 pandemic continues to progress, our region is experiencing cancellations at a variety of events. Below is a list of the cancellations for events that would likely involve AVCS students (most recent changes are in BOLD):

NYSPHSAA Regional and State Championships (Ice Hockey, Bowling, Boys and Girls Basketball) – postponed indefinitely
Missing Children’s Basketball Tournament
Junior Class College Parent Night – postponed until further notice
AVCS Science Fair and Parent Night – postponed until further notice
Ithaca College Gospel Fest
PEAK Music Festival
Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser
Kids’ Fun Night
NYS 3-8 Assessment Exams (2020 only)
NYS Regents Exams (June 2020 only)