INTERVIEW: Rye Schools Boss Grades the First Week of School During the Pandemic

(PHOTO: Rye Schools Head Custodian Angelo Morganti keeping things clean with electrostatic sprayers.)

The staff worked through last weekend. Then during this week, two administrators drove to Rochester and back in a school district pickup truck to pick-up 500 polycarbonate desk dividers that the school purchased but the manufacturer was unable to deliver.

“School in the pandemic is not like the school we are used to,” said Rye Schools Boss Eric Byrne in a conversation with MyRye.com Friday afternoon. There were some glitches during week one, mostly related to technology. The Google Classroom system was down for a period, there was an issue with the school firewall and Chromebooks used by students and the Internet provider had some issues.

The “help desk was active,” said Byrne. The morning check-in system worked, even in the rain on Thursday.

Asked about dealing with the new COVID-19 reporting requirements from the State, Byrne said “One of my great pleasures in life is dealing with the State of NY and managing post Andrew Cuomo press conference.” He went on to describe the intense confusion that gripped school districts on the new reporting requirement, announced a week ago Thursday, days before school opened. The State has yet to post any data from the schools, signaling what might be mass confusion between it and school districts.

We ended playing a game of word association with Bryne where we mentioned a word or phase and asked for a single work in response:

The first week of school: well done

The Rye Fund for Education: incredible

Remote learning: good start

Rye Students: outstanding

Rye Teachers: extraordinary

Rye School Staff: wonderful

Rye School Maintenance Department: beyond belief

Rye Sports: soon

COVID-19: blah!

Masking-up: necessary

Hand Washing: necessary & effective

Week Two: excited

Thanks, Eric!