What’s happening in the Town of Highlands
Highland Falls
The Village Board extended its State of Emergency through April 30.
On Monday, March 30, the board declared the playgrounds at Roe Park and Center St. were closed. “I have been forced to take this action based on groups of people not observing the social distancing guidelines,” Mayor Joe D’Onofrio said, adding that to remain open the play areas would need to be constantly sanitized, which the village does not have the personnel or equipment to do.
D’Onofrio said this week that his ‘Battle Heroes’ of the week — persons doing exceptional work in trying times — are the workers at both Walgreens and My Town Marketplace. He hopes to eventually invite all his ‘Battle Heroes’ to a Village Board meeting to be recognized.
In a final, non-municipal, matter pertaining to the current health crisis, D’Onofrio suggested that all community residents place a teddy bear in the front windows of their homes.
“I’ve seen this on social media,” he said, “and am asking our community to join others across our nation. Our children are scared. Let’s all place a stuffed bear in our front window and then as they walk or drive around neighborhoods they can count the bears they see. Let’s bring a little joy to our community.”
Highlands
Town officials closed the playground at Brooks Park on Tuesday, March 30. The rest of the park remains open for “leisure activities”, but those using the park are required to maintain proper social distancing.
Town Hall remains open, by appointment only, Super-visor Bob Livsey said. The town’s Sanitation Department continues to collect garbage and recycling on a regular schedule.
Livsey said all functions of the town are working well under the difficult circumstances. He did ask residents to use good judgement when calling for emergency services, particularly the Town of Highlands Ambulance Corps, because they have limited resources. He suggested, as is often seen on television and other news, to always check in with their personal physicians first when they have COVID-19 type symptoms, prior to calling for an ambulance.
Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District
Schools remain closed, via Governor Andrew Cuomo, through at least April 15.
Students began online learning courses on Wednesday, April 1, using resources such as Google Classrooms. The school district has created a section of their website with COVID-19 information, including copies of the near-daily letters sent home from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Frank Sheboy and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Technology Dr. Andrea Tejedor.
While Tejedor has been focusing on the educational aspect of the school district, Sheboy has been working with the Board of Education, building principals and the district’s food service provider, ARAMARK, to provide meals to community students. All HF-FMCSD students can pick up free breakfasts and lunches on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Highland Falls Intermediate School and Fort Montgomery Elementary School. In addition, the district continues to provide packed backpacks to students who are in a joint program with the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley. That food, to cover meals for the weekend, are given out on Fridays.
“We provided 2236 meals last week,” Sheboy said on Monday.
The meals will continue to be provided while schools are closed.
