Webutuck stays informed about COVID-19 vaccines and closings

WEBUTUCK — After absorbing the latest reports from the North East (Webutuck) Central School District, its Board of Education (BOE) assessed where the district stands in regard to school closings and the COVID-19 vaccine at a meeting on Monday evening, Jan. 25.

Based on recent conversations with the Dutchess County Department of Health (DOH), Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani said the DOH has moved past the idea of a COVID-19 testing program in school districts and is instead moving toward a vaccination program. He explained Webutuck was hoping the DOH and Governor Andrew Cuomo would allow school sites to be centers for vaccine distribution “so we can get our people vaccinated quickly.” 

However, as the district quickly learned during the last few weeks, there have been concerns that New York State has had trouble with its rollout plan for vaccinations, leaving counties overburdened and many residents who are eligible for vaccines scrambling to find distribution sites while the admittedly inadequate vaccine supply is available. 

In essence, Castellani said that, based on the discussions Webutuck has had with the DOH and the county, the state government is “woefully unprepared” and doesn’t have nearly enough vaccinations to distribute, though Webutuck is hoping the change of administration at the federal level will lead to vaccinations becoming more readily available. President Biden’s announcement last week that he plans to purchase 200 million doses of the vaccines for Americans offers hope that more shots will be on their way in 2021.

When asked by BOE members at the Jan. 25 meeting whether the state has addressed the issue of people who haven’t been vaccinated coming into the school buildings, Castellani said it hasn’t yet been addressed and while they can’t force people to get vaccinated, it’s highly recommended that they do. 

Though the superintendent said he didn’t know what or how it can mandate in terms of vaccinations, he said that if and when Webutuck gets to a point where the district finds out that a certain number of people are choosing not to get vaccinated, it will have to work with the unions to find a solution that’s fair for all.

“We have to respect people’s rights, but by the same token, we have to have our buildings safe,” Castellani said.

However, he said the district has not crossed that bridge yet as it is already having trouble getting the people who want the vaccine to get the shot in their arm.

With Webutuck currently closed, Castellani said he’s been having conversations with his fellow superintendents in larger school districts throughout the county that have closed their school buildings to conduct contact tracing. Though he noted that Webutuck would be in the same boat if it was a larger school district, he attributed Webutuck’s decision to close to the fact that the district is located on one campus “on the same street” and with students riding “the same buses.” With more people coming into contact with one another, the contact tracing becomes vast, Castellani said.

“It is never an easy decision,” he continued. “It’s painstaking. Sometimes Robert is contact tracing with the principals upwards of 30, 40 people, and that takes more than one day.”

While discussing contact tracing, Farrier said it would be helpful for anyone in the Webutuck community who has changed their phone number to provide the district with their most current contact information so the district can update its system. To do so, call the Webutuck business office at 845-373-4100.