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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the New York State Education Department. August 16, 2021:

The New York State Education Department Commissioner, Betty Rosa in a memorandum last week announced with the Health Department of New York State turning over school opening policy to individual school districts, that the State Education Department would take over that responsibiliy. Here is the Commissioner’s announcement:

Dear Parents and Families,

As we continue to confront the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) is committed to the health and safety of students, educators, families, and communities. This week, NYSED issued a Health and Safety Guide to aid schools and districts as they prepare for the 2021-2022 school year. The guide is a result of close collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders at the local, state, and national levels to enable New York’s schools to continue to safely educate their students this fall. The guide is available on NYSED’s Back to School web page. The overall goals for the 2021-2022 school year are to keep students and staff healthy and safe, be responsive to student needs, and maximize in-person teaching and learning. The guide describes important considerations and strategies for schools and districts to manage the risks for students and staff from COVID-19 while supporting robust and engaging learning experiences for students. We are proceeding with the understanding that the recommendations put forth in this guide are based on the best health and safety information available to us at this time. As the start of the school year grows nearer and then gets underway, NYSED will be mindful of the many uncertainties faced statewide. We will continuously monitor the situation, and the guide will be updated as public health conditions change. To help ease the burden on schools and districts, federal funding is available to support a safe return to school. The U.S. Department of Education recently announced its approval of New York’s American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) State Plan and released the remaining $3 billion of New York’s $8.9 billion total ARP ESSER funds. The funds will be used to help meet the vast array of additional needs brought about by COVID-19, including the safe opening and operation of schools this September. With input from stakeholders, we have developed a plan to best disperse these funds to benefit all students. In addition, NYSED recently announced that more than $6.2 million in federal funds are available to help libraries and other cultural institutions across the state address the digital divide, increase access to the state’s cultural history, and expand student access to digital learning materials. These funds will support collaborative efforts to find real and sustainable solutions to address the digital divide in New York State. This significant investment represents meaningful progress in achieving our vision of digital equity and inclusion for students and families. Our libraries will continue to develop bold, creative, and critical ways to serve communities. The State Library, State Museum, and State Archives will also use $700,000 to improve and expand access to the Office of Cultural Education’s services for all New Yorkers through a range of collaborative initiatives. These initiatives include: supporting the implementation of collaborative digital inclusion solutions statewide; conducting a broadband infrastructure needs assessment for New York’s small and rural public libraries; creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework and toolkit for libraries, museums, and cultural institutions; making core collections from the State Library, State Archives, and State Museum available online for increased public access; developing collaborative online Museum exhibits; and expanding New York’s online summer reading program tools. I appreciate all you do to support your schools and communities. Please continue to check our COVID-19 web page, our Back to School web page, and our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) frequently for all the latest updates. Sincerely, Betty A. Rosa Commissioner

Writing on Twitter, Robert Astorino, seeking Republican Candidacy for NY Governor in 2022, charged on his Twitter account Friday that at least two days of arrivals of illegal immigrants have been flown into Westchester County Airport for resettlement:

“Hundreds of undocumented immigrants from crisis at southern border flown into Westchester Co. Airport each of last several nights. Why was this a secret? Where are they being resettled? Who is paying? Have they been tested for COVID?”

Christine Sculti, Republican Candidate for Westchester County Executive this fall issued this statement on the matter late Sunday night:

Social media has been abuzz with reports that plane loads of undocumented immigrants from the southern border have been flown into Westchester County Airport – a county facility – on multiple occasions, all in the dead of the night and all without the community being notified.

Westchester residents are demanding transparency from their leaders and rightly asking, what did George Latimer know and when did he know it?

Today,(Sunday) George Latimer finally admitted that he was notified at least two days ago that the federal government would begin flying persons who entered the United States illegally into Westchester County Airport.  Latimer only admitted to having received advance notice when pressed by an eruption of reports on social media that this was happening.

George Latimer’s preposterous claim that he only knew about the flights for 48 hours is completely implausible and defies common sense.  Worse are his attempts to claim the valid concerns of residents are driven by ideology and politics.  Our concerns are driven by public safety and public health.  While I am not privy to all of the details that the County Executive has, and I do not claim to have all the facts, I am requesting answers to the following questions:

1)      How is it possible that you are unaware and uninformed of what is going on in your own airport that you are in charge of?

2)      Would the federal government have chosen Westchester as a destination had George Latimer not made Westchester a Sanctuary County?

3)      Were any non-Sanctuary jurisdictions included in this program?

4)      If it is indeed true that you knew about the flights for “only” 48 hours, why did you choose not to notify Westchester residents?

5)      What questions did you pose to the federal government upon being informed?

6)      Would you have ever notified Westchester residents had social media not exploded with the reports?

7)      How many flights, containing how many passengers, have flown into your county airport without you knowing anything about it?

8)      Are there any future flights scheduled?

9)      What is the vaccination status of the passengers?

10)   Did your Westchester County Department of Health conduct Covid screenings on all arriving passengers?

11)   What precautions has your Westchester County Department of Health and airport officials taken with the incoming passengers, given that we are undergoing a spike in Covid cases and the Delta variant continues to spread?

12)   Do flight manifests exist, as we need to know if any of the passengers pose a safety risk for residents?

13)   Has your Westchester County Department of Public Safety done background checks on all incoming passengers to be aware of possible criminal backgrounds?

14)   Do you support these flights – filled with passengers who are very likely unvaccinated – coming into your airport?

15)   Do you want the passengers placed in our communities and in our schools, regardless of criminal records or vaccination status?

Westchester residents deserve reassurances from their county and federal governments as to the immunization status and screening for criminal pasts of these individuals.  We are also entitled to know which communities will be responsible for supporting them while the immigration administrative and judicial processes unfold. 

A pandemic is not the time for experiments in social engineering promoted by the radical left through Sanctuary jurisdictions like Westchester.  Westchester residents deserve transparency and have a right to answers to all of these questions – and more.  The time has come for George Latimer to be held accountable to his residents.”