September 28, 2021
From Alfred Almond School Superintendent Tracie Bliven:
Dear Alfred-Almond Community,
This message is fairly long and contains 3 important points of information. Please listen carefully to the entire message.
First – The District has received notification of a number of new positive cases of COVID-19 over the weekend and today. In order to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff, and to allow for contact tracing and additional cleaning to occur, Alfred-Almond Central School District will be closed Tuesday, September 28 to students, this includes students that attend our GST BOCES Wildwood CTE Campus. All extra-curricular activities will also be canceled. All teachers and staff must report and plan to work their regular contractual hours.
The number of new cases will require significant contact tracing to take place and data submitted to the ACDOH before official orders of isolation and/or quarantine can be issued by the ACDOH. In consultation with the ACDOH, both parties feel this is the correct thing to do in order to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The district calendar will be adjusted to reflect tomorrow as a Conference Day and the Conference Day scheduled for March 21st will be changed to an instructional day for students. This is in an effort to minimize lost days of instruction. Our plan is to re-open for in-person instruction on Wednesday, September 29.
Please remember, do not send your child(ren) to school if they are exhibiting any COVID-like symptoms.
Secondly, two new documents will be posted to the District Website and Social Media accounts tomorrow. Due to recent updates we received from the ACDOH we are updating and expanding information. There will be a Q & A related to COVID-19 questions as well as a flowchart for how COVID-19 close contacts are determined per the Allegany County Department of Health.
If you cannot access these documents via the Website or social media accounts please call 607-276-6501 and we will provide you with hard copies.
Thirdly, I am notifying you that we have received allegations that there were threats made against students. Any threat made against the District or its students is taken extremely seriously as the safety and security of our students, faculty, and staff is our main priority. You should also know there has been misleading and inaccurate information posted and shared on social media.
The District worked closely with NYS Troopers and their bureau of investigation to investigate these claims. This process is ongoing, however; we were informed by the Bureau of Investigation that there is not a credible threat.
Thank you for your patience, understanding, and collaboration as we work together during this time.
Tracie Bliven
Superintendent
Alfred-Almond Central School
