Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media capital project upgrades and COVID regulations continue in the Cairo-Durham schools as the first day of the new school year approaches. The district held an online meeting with middle school principal Dotan Schips and high school principal Jeremy Moore last week to review some of the changes concerning the ongoing construction project and health protocols as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A similar remote meeting was also held for families with children in the elementary school in advance of the Sept. 7 first day of school. Much of the summer was focused on the $28.9 million capital project at the elementary and middle/high schools, which includes the addition of air conditioning, upgrades to the parking lots at both campuses, reconfigured spaces, security enhancements, classroom renovations and more. A significant change at the middle/high school campus will be the new traffic pattern in the parking lot. The new traffic flow will affect how parents drop off and pick up their children. “Parent drop-off, busing and the main parking lot have been separated and the traffic patterns are very different,” Moore said. Staff will be stationed in the parking lot to help drivers with the new routes. School buses will have their own loop and will be separated from other traffic routes. There will be changes with regard to health protocols as well with a full return to in-person instruction this year “We are incredibly excited that 100 percent of our students will join us every single day — there is no more red and blue team, there are no A, B and C groups,” Schips said, referring to the hybrid schedule students followed last year. Each student will undergo regularly scheduled assessments to determine their academic progress and to see if any learning loss occurred due to the pandemic. Elective courses like band and chorus will resume this year, including group and individual lessons. Physical distancing requirements for music classes and performances, as well as gym activities, have been reduced from 12 feet to 6 feet, while in the classroom the requirement has been reduced from six feet to three feet. Face masks will be required for everyone on school grounds and on buses Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.