School districts keep watchful eye on omicron

With COVID cases surging across the nation and here in New York state, NewsChannel 13 is hearing concerns from local parents and even students about the spread of the virus in schools – and whether it may necessitate a return to virtual instruction, at least until the surge has passed.

NewsChannel 13 reached out to several districts to ask about the current status of COVID among students and staff and whether a return to virtual instruction was a possibility.

Parents from Shenendehowa have expressed concern that this week alone there have already been more than 60 new COVID infections in the district.

Shen PIO Lindsay Valenti said "I will tell you that this spike is typical, as we saw last year, with gatherings around the holidays and the seasonality of more cases in the winter. The district does not have plans to opt for virtual learning. We are continuing our diligent work with the county to keep kids in school safely."

Albany School District Assistant Director of Communications Lisa Angerame says, "The city school district of Albany is monitoring COVID cases on a daily basis, and at this point we have no plans to shift to distance learning before the holiday break."

NewsChannel 13 is still waiting on answers from several other districts. We’ll let you know when we get a response.