BY MATT LINDSEY
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- How is the school closure impacting finances at Potsdam Central? It is not saving much, if any money at all, PCS Superintendent Joann Chambers said.

All St. Lawrence County schools are closed for the remainder of the academic year, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He made the announcement May 1 during a press conference. He said the decision was made to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

“Some of the costs associated with providing an education for the students in our community have decreased during this time,” according to Chambers. However, she said most costs have remained the same for the district.

“All of us are disappointed and sad that students will not be able to return to school this year. Our administrators and staff miss our students every day. However, we also know the governor’s decision was a prudent one,” said Chambers.

Gov. Cuomo said the decision to close schools for the remainder of the school years was made because there was not enough time for schools to create social distancing plans for staff and students to keep COVID-19 infection rates down.

School closed in mid-March until April 20 and the closure was extended until May 15 a couple weeks ago. Decisions on summer school will be made by the end of the month, Cuomo said.

School board elections and budget votes will be conducted by mail and all qualified voters will be sent an absentee ballot with return postage paid.

Still, districts must start planning to re-open this fall.

“Soon, we will begin to work on plans for re-opening school next fall and expect there will be some increased costs associated with the considerations we will have to make to ensure our buildings are clean and that we are all able to observe appropriate social distancing” Chambers said.

“The health and safety of our staff, students, and families must remain our top priority,” she said.

She said she recognizes there are many questions unanswered, including what graduation will look like, and how we will prepare for the safe re-opening of school in the fall. School officials will be working to answer the questions and more in the coming weeks.

“In the coming weeks, our staff will be working together to prioritize the learning standards they will address during the final weeks of the school year. We’ll also be having professional conversations about the best practices we’ve learned as we made the shift to remote learning,” Chambers said.

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