SALAMANCA — A special Board of Education meeting was held July 28 for a presentation and discussions on reopening plans for the Salamanca City Central School District.

The meeting discussed everything from the results of recent survey data to a potential education plan, from the district’s philosophy and the importance of safety, something district superintendent Robert Breidenstein made perfectly clear.

“We’ve said in our opening plan, if we can’t reopen safely then we won’t open, and until we get to that point, we’re going to be safe,” Breidenstein said Friday.

The district submitted its reopening plan to the state July 30. A copy of the plan can be viewed on the district website, salamancany.org.

“Our plan is best described as a flexible, hybrid model that will begin with remote instruction and then a gradual phasing in as safety conditions allow for our students to be back in the buildings as quickly and safely as we can manage,” Breidenstein explained.

Throughout July, the district began the process with a parent and staff survey and guidance from the state. The last two weeks of the month saw a second survey, development of a safety plan and district and building stakeholder meetings before the first finalized safety and education plan was presented July 28.

Of the 366 respondents to the survey, more than ¾ were parents and 18% community members. Data showed that 86% of families have sufficient internet access at home, and a majority of respondents agreed with students learning from home or through a hybrid model rather than having school reopen as normal with safety procedures in place.

“We were very pleased with the overall participation rate of families,” Breidenstein said. “Unique individual households responded with great frequency, and that was very helpful to us.”

Breidenstein said one of the most helpful numbers from the survey feedback was many families saying they were not comfortable with high-capacity bus transportation, but would be willing to drive their children to school themselves.

“That is something that was very pleasantly surprising and told us that we’ve done a very admirable job of seeking input and listening to viable solutions,” he added.

Over the next month, Breidenstein said the district will be connecting with parents to figure out schedules with each student in an attempt to cluster families into pods and minimize cross-contact and have better control of the social distancing requirements.

“To collect that individual student data and what works for the families is important as we phase in the in-person academic participation,” he explained. “And when the in-person doesn’t happen, to know the types of schedules that will need to happen for remote instruction.”

A key factor in making sure the remote instruction runs smoothly is the technology access families have at home, something the district is confident in based on the survey data. Breidenstein said the district is working on solutions to get as much internet access to families with boosters across the community.

“We’re at the one-to-one capacity with the technology and the devices, so we’re confident that we can meet the platform needs,” he continued. “As we implement the expanders for our internet capabilities, we’ll be able to meet the digital capacity at a higher level than we had in the previous shutdown.”

Before classes resume, there are still several uncertainties that need to be finalized, Breidenstein said, including finishing a couple of areas of the ongoing capital project. He said they are on target to finish both in-building and parking lot construction by the time students could return in September.

The other issue is determining what the health screenings for kids coming into the buildings would look like. Breidenstein said the district has some ideas they’re working on and testing in the lead up to having the buildings open.

“We’re essentially beta testing to make sure that it’s going to work,” he added. “I’m confident it’s going to get there, we’re just not entirely there right now.”

Breidenstein said everybody from the school board down through the administrators and staff are on the same page with the plan, commending all of them for making great progress in a very short amount of time.

“All things considered, this has been an impossible task made possible only because of our staff, our teachers, our paraprofessionals, our transportations, our board of ed, our administrators and of course our parents and students,” he said.

As the district learns more information from the state and the plan is revised through August, updated information will be available through the district website.

(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)