March 16, 2020
Dear South Orangetown Families and Staff,
At 1PM today, Rockland County Executive Ed Day declared a State of Emergency relating to Coronavirus (COVID-19) through April 15, 2020. At the same time, the County Executive signed an Executive Order suspending all public and private school classes and activities for a period of two weeks. We expect that two weeks from now, County Executive Day will sign another Order closing schools for an additional five days, and thereafter for him to sign additional Orders until the State of Emergency ends.
It is our understanding that the Executive Order closing schools may be extended based on conditions in Rockland County and guidance from the Rockland County Department of Health, the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Education Department and/or Governor Cuomo.
The South Orangetown Central School District will continue to update parents, guardians and students via email and other mass notifications. During the coming weeks, we encourage frequent visits to our official website, www.socsd.org, where critical information on schedules, programs and supports will be updated regularly. A detailed follow-up communication with specific information regarding distance learning, supports, food service and calendar will be sent to families by Wednesday, March 18 at 5PM. Distance learning will begin this Thursday, March 19; food service will begin Monday, March 23.
We understand that any school closure can be a hardship for our students and their families. Our administrative teams have been working around-the-clock to develop plans for home access to instructional materials and school meals, as well as other critical student supports, during the closure.
Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students, staff and communities safe.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Pritchard, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools