Are You Sending Your Kids Back to School?

It's a question that I think most parents in the Hudson Valley have asked themselves over the past few months. Who would have thought that it would even be something that we would need to debate or figure out but here we are.

Earlier this week the State of New York released details on the guidelines that need to be followed if schools are to reopen in the fall and like most, it does seem a bit confusing to me but I'm hoping that come September, schools will be safe for most kids to return if you choose to send them back.

I've spoken to a bunch of parents across the Hudson Valley, from Poughkeepsie to Middletown, to Kingston and more and more parents are weighing the option of doing the home school route come September because they are afraid of their kids getting sick once they return to school.

According KSDK, one school has recently come under fire for attempting to protect the district from being held responsible if any kids get sick when they return. The Hazelwood School District recently asked parents to sign a waiver called, "Parent Permission and Waiver of Liability for Student Participation in Hazelwood School District Athletics/Activities" if kids wanted to participate in sports moving forward.

The waiver reads, "The undersigned agrees to release, discharge, hold harmless and indemnify the Hazelwood School District, it’s agents, employees, officers, Board of Education members, insurers and others acting on the District’s behalf (the Releasees) of and from any and all claims, demands, causes of action and/or legal liabilities for injuries to or death of my child occurring during, or resulting from, or participation in the above-mentioned program or activity and related in any way to COVID-19, even if the cause, damages or injuries are alleged to be the fault of or alleged to be caused by the negligence of carelessness of the Releases."

Some parents misunderstood the waiver and word spread that the school was asking parents to sign the waiver if they wanted to send their kids back to school, which according to the district is not true. The waiver needs to be signed ONLY if parents want their child to participate in athletics.

If you're a parent, would you sign a waiver like this? Are you going to send your kids back to school in September? Have you thought about going the home school route? Call or text us through the Wolf app.

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