The Rye school district announced Monday afternoon Rye High School will remain 100% remote through the end of the year. It had been expected the high school would open this Wednesday for hybrid learning after a two week closure.
With additional COVID cases and related exposures, the school simply does not have the staff to cover in person learning. “At this time, we do not have enough faculty and staff to open the building until Monday, December 21. Given that there are only two school days that week before the break, we have decided not to open the school for in-person learning until after the Winter Recess,” said schools boss Eric Byrne in an email.
Date: Mon, Dec 14, 2020 at 2:15 PM
Subject: Rye High School to Remain Remote Through December 22
To: Rye City School District Recipients
Dear Rye High School Community,
As you know, on December 4 we announced that we would need to move to remote learning with the hope that we could open the High School on December 16. Since that time, we have had a number of new cases associated with the school which have necessitated quarantining many more students, faculty, and staff. At this time, we do not have enough faculty and staff to open the building until Monday, December 21. Given that there are only two school days that week before the break, we have decided not to open the school for in-person learning until after the Winter Recess. I recognize that this may be disappointing for some, but the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff is of paramount importance. Limiting interactions while we are seeing such an uptick in cases in the High School community seems like the wisest course of action. We are hopeful that this period of physical closure will get us over the bump in cases and allow us all to begin fresh in the New Year. Remote learning will continue through the end of day on Tuesday, December 22.
We look forward to seeing students, faculty, and staff in person in the New Year.
Sincerely,
Eric Byrne, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
