Delay of in-person classes confirmed

POTTSTOWN » The school board voted 6-2 Thursday to reaffirm the decision to forgo a return to in-person education for the third quarter.

Last week, following a workshop session, Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez took the informal pulse of the board and subsequently announced that a planned return to in-person instruction will be delayed due to stubbornly high coronavirus infection cases.

Pottstown’s rate remains at about 12 percent, he told the board during the Jan. 21 meeting.

After formally presenting the COVID-19 task force’s recommendation to continue with the virtual model, the board voted formally to endorse it.

Board members Steve Kline and Laura Johnson

voted against the proposal laid out by Rodriguez.

“I’m at a point where I think it’s worth bringing the elementary kids back,” Johnson said.

She later posted on Twitter, her vote against the delayed return is “about feeling that some younger students will learn and engage better in person.”

Similarly, Kline, a former school principal, said his vote came because he wanted to know more about what is being done for the students who are falling behind academically as well as those who may not be failing, but are becoming disengaged from school.

“The students who are falling behind need a lot more than an hour here or there,” said Kline. “Ten percent of a school failing means we have to remediate somehow.”

School Board member John Armato voiced similar concerns, saying the district has to reach out to the families of the students who need more help and try to engage with them to get them that help.

Rodriguez had indicated the administration is working on ways to re-connect with those students, but his response was lacked specifics. He said the district is looking at how to provide additional support both online and in-person for struggling students, describing it as “more of a bridge until we get to in-person.”

In November, the school board tentatively decided students and staff would not return to in-person education, with the exception of special education and some pilot programs, until at least January.

That decision was dependent on a number of factors that have remained in flux, including COVID-19 cases, the latest information on the effectiveness of hybrid learning programs and the interest of families.

Hybrid programs have students come in for inperson education two days a week and continue online cyberlearning three days a week.

But Rodriguez said a survey of families found less than 30 percent of most elementary grade levels expressed an interest in participating in the hybrid model.

Rodriguez praised those teachers who have volunteered to teach and provide support in person.

The need for support was highlighted by Franklin Elementary parent Laurie Conbeer whos aid her two children are not struggling academically, but are becoming disengaged.

“If you could have seen their faces when I tried to explain to them that we weren’t going back Feb. 1,” she said. Her son, looking forward to returning for just a few days, said “even if I just have one friend Mommy, that’s one more than I have now.”

“That’s not the first parent who has tugged at my heart strings,” said Rodriguez. “Nothing is off the table. We’ll look at providing social opportunities. Not sure how we’ll do that, but then I haven’t been sure of anything for the last 14 months,” he says.

Teacher Kelly Leibold thanked the board for its “careful deliberations” and Rodriguez “for making decisions that are keeping everyone safe.”

IMAGE FROM SCREENSHOT These were the three choices presented to the Pottstown School Board Thursday.