Albany City School District learning remotely until January 11

ALBANY, .N.Y. (NEWS10) — All students in the Albany City School district will learn remotely until returning to in-person classes on January 11.

Albany County Executive Dan McCoy urged school districts in the county to start remote learning models upon returning from holiday break to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The county executive says, however, that he doesn’t have the authority to shut schools down, and that decision is ultimately up to the districts themselves.

In a letter from Albany CSD on their website about their decision to go remote, they cited 41 new cases within their district from December 23 to 31, totaling more than the whole month of November.

“The district’s daily average of new cases during the holiday break also increased by more than 50% as compared to the first three weeks of December,” the letter said, “this has a significant impact on the delivery of quality instruction in-person and the supervision of students.”

The City School District of Albany was notified of 10 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the four-day New Year’s weekend. Six of the 10 cases involve individuals who have been engaged entirely in a distance learning environment, and the Albany County Health Department has identified no additional contacts with any of the new cases. 

Three cases are associated with Albany High School.