Schools close until mid-April

FINGER LAKES--Local schools have closed as the coronavirus spreads both in New York state and around the country. The announcements were made over the weekend, with additional details being released Monday. Students were initially scheduled to go to school Tuesday, March 17, but the decision was changed and districts canceled. The expected return date is April 13.
Dundee issued a statement as follows:
Due to ever-changing developments around the issue of COVID-19 the Dundee Central School District has made the difficult decision to cancel school for students Tuesday, March 17. This means that students will not report to school until our anticipated return date of Monday, April 13.
The review materials that have been organized and developed for all students will be delivered to each student's home residence, Tuesday, March 17 between 9 to 11 a.m. If we are unable to connect with you for this home delivery, they will be mailed.
If students need personal items from the buildings, please call either the elementary office 607-243-5533 ext. 7515 or the junior/senior high school office 607-243-5533 ext. 7505 and we will make arrangements for these items to be delivered to you.
Students in grades 7-12, if you need your laptop and/or charger, please call the junior/senior high school office and we will make arrangements to get these to you.
Our meal distribution plan will still begin Wednesday, March 18 and will follow the same timelines and schedules that were previously shared. For your convenience, we have included that information in this post again.
The safety of our school community remains a top priority. We will provide further updates as they become available. You may also visit our website for more information.
During the school closure period, lunch and breakfast will be provided as a "pick-up-and-go" model. These will be bag lunches and breakfasts for any and all students. These can be picked up, free of charge, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here is how it will work:
Meals will be provided on these dates:
Wednesday, March 18; Monday, March 23; Tuesday, March 24; Wednesday, March 25; Monday, March 30; Tuesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 1.
Meals may be picked up on each date listed at the main school front entrance, by simply driving up and staff will bring the meals to your vehicle.
On Monday, each student will receive a lunch for the day and a breakfast for Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, each student will receive a lunch for the day and breakfast for Wednesday morning. On Wednesday, each student will receive a lunch for the day as well as two additional lunches and breakfasts for Thursday and Friday.
If any family is in need of these meals and you can't get to DCS for the pick-up, please call 607-243-5533 ext. 7702.
The following precautionary measures have been made in order to follow the regulations associated with "social distancing." These measures are in effect for the remainder of this school year, not just during the closure period:
• Board of Education meetings will be closed to public attendance until further notice. As always, these will be available via Facebook Live.
• All overnight field trips have been canceled.
• All other trips will be examined to determine if they should be canceled or postponed due to the guidance we have been given based on social distancing and large group gatherings.
• Athletic events are being discussed with many different agencies, as soon as a final determination is made, a follow-up notice will be provided.
• The community wellness center is also closed until April 13, 2020.
• The community dinner scheduled for March 31 is canceled.
Penn Yan Central School will follow a similar school schedule. Closed Tuesday, March 17 through Monday, April 13.
"PYCSD will be providing meals for students during the closing of the district due to COVID-19. Meals are intended for students and you must register (https://tinyurl.com/tqlt62d or call 315-536-6781) to receive meals. Specifics about the meals can be found at bit.ly/pycsdmealdetails. Starting March 18 until April 3, meals can be picked up via drive-thru in the Penn Yan middle school parent drop off loop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you cannot pick up meals we do have drivers available to drop meals at your residence. Each pick up will have two bagged breakfasts, one hot lunch and one bagged lunch per child in the household. If you have questions related to student meal requests please contact the food service office at 315-536-6781 or email dburton@pycsd.org."
Hammondsport is also closed from Tuesday, March 17 through Monday, April 13. At press time, Hammondsport was finalizing their breakfast and lunch program. The school anticipated there would be "multiple drop off locations throughout the district."
Steuben County declared a state of emergency, 12 a.m., Wednesday. Yates and Schuyler made their declaration over the weekend.
In a joint statement from Watkins Glen Superintendent Greg Kelahan, Odessa-Montour Superintendent Chris Wood and Bradford Superintendent John Marshall they said, "Thank you for your flexibility and patience as our response to [coronavirus] COVID-19 has been rapidly evolving each day. As an education community, we continue to make the safety of our students and staff the main focus in our decision-making process. We have been working diligently with our community partners to plan and respond to this emerging issue. We have been in constant contact with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and County Public Health, while receiving updated guidance from the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) regularly.
Although there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Schuyler or Chemung counties, we have been advised that temporarily closing schools would be the best course of action to help prevent an outbreak in our communities. Schools in the Bradford, Odessa-Montour and Watkins Glen Central School Districts will be closed on Monday, March 16 to allow our staff time to prepare learning materials for students to complete at home."
There will be no sports activities during the closure and all organized school activities are postponed indefinitely.
Schuyler schools have organized to provide meals for students while school is out.
Watkins Glen will utilize seven locations to distribute meals during the break. They include: the Burdett fire hall, Hector fire hall, Reading Center town hall, the Watkins Glen International ticket station on Townsend, Tyrone at the corner of Country Road 21 and 23, Beaver Dams at the Route 414 pull-off and the Watkins Glen back parking lot near the cafeteria. Meals are available from March 18 to April 10 from 10 to 11 a.m.
At Odessa, "In an effort to ensure that no child is hungry during the unexpected school closures, the Odessa-Montour Central School District will offer curbside meal pick-up for district students and their siblings beginning on Wednesday, March 18. One bagged breakfast and lunch for each child will be available for pick-up Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (as long as supplies for the day last) at the following locations: Odessa-Montour Jr./Sr. High School - Bus Loop, 300 College Ave., Odessa and B. C. Cate Elementary School - Bus Loop, 262 Canal St., Montour Falls."