PLANS REGARDING BACK-TO-SCHOOL
Districts throughout the region are finalizing their flexible plans for the start of their respective school years in the weeks ahead.
The plans, which have been worked out with input from parents as well as those who will be in the schools, must be submitted to the state and focus on the health and safety of students, teachers and staff. They all provide parents with alternatives between in-person and online instruction.
Face masks and safe distancing will be practiced in all classrooms.
Mt. Lebanon
The Mt. Lebanon School Board, which approved its health and safety plan in a 54 vote last week, could approve its reopening plan at a Monday session. Classes are intended to begin Aug. 31.
“I can think of no more complex, complicated or contentious time than right now,” said Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer, adding it has been the most challenging time in his 32-year career as an educator. “The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our resolve and challenged our resiliency.”
Mr. Steinhauer told the board members and more than 1,000 residents on the virtual meeting that anything in the plan is “adaptable, flexible and responsive.” But the intention is to return with in-person instruction, with parents having the option to enroll their children in the district’s new cyber academy.
All staff and students will be required to wear face coverings, although “mask breaks” will be provided. Limited exceptions with doctor’s orders will be permitted.
Board member Michael Riemer, who opposed the plan, expressed “deep concerns” with the reopening of schools.
“I’m not a physician, and neither is anyone on this board, but we’re charged with this decision by the state, and I don’t think we should have been,” he said.
But member Elaine Cappucci, who supported the plan, noted, “It’s a framework. Once you get into buildings you may find some things may change. We have to allow for flexibility and change as we go through the school year.”
North Allegheny
The North Allegheny School District, with an opening date of Sept. 8, will offer a hybrid format with students attending in-person classes two days a week and virtual classes the other three days.
The school board approved the plan last week in a 6-3 vote. The members also reactivated the North Allegheny Cyber Academy for parents uncomfortable with their children returning in person. Erin Crimone, assistant principal of Carson Middle School, was named acting principal of the cyber school for one year.
“There is a strong push in the community to return to the greatest extent possible,” said board President Richard McClure. “The best near-term solution is to commit to the hybrid plan for the beginning of the year.”
Under the hybrid plan, students with last names beginning with A through L would attend classes on Mondays and Tuesdays. The remaining students would attend on Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays would be used to deep clean the schools, said Melissa Friez, assistant superintendent for secondary education.
Ms. Friez added that special education or English language learners may be able to attend three or four days in person if needed.
There will be no field trips for the first semester, no winter concerts, and events will be limited to maintain physical distancing. Volunteers will be “very limited” and screened by the school nurse upon arrival, said Roger Sechler, director of business operations.
Although library books will be available for checkout, they will be held for five days before re-entering circulation.
Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel Area School District board members will meet Monday to vote on a five-day in-school week beginning Aug. 24 for elementary students.
The district’s new superintendent, Mary Catherine Reljac, explained that in-person instruction is the best way for elementary-age children to learn.
At the same time, she said, “If we would need to switch models, we could.”
Three models have resulted from studies and discussions that began in May. They include in-school, fully online and a hybrid of the two.
Details of the plans are posted on the district’s website, fcasd.edu, and families can choose what best fits their situation. However, district administrators and school board members are asking parents to choose quickly — especially if they are going with online learning — so plans can be refined for a possible return to a fiveday-a-week plan for elementary students.
For the classroom approach to work, students will be placed together all day long with the same teacher to limit the number of contacts they make each day. Even hall traffic and lunchtime will be meshed to keep the students together.
In the hybrid plan, each student would be assigned to a teacher, with two days a week in school and two days online with the same teacher. On Wednesdays, deep cleaning with special equipment would take place.
Surveys returned from families showed 15% preferred online learning, so that option is available.
A transition point to online learning has been built into the hybrid model should students need to be quarantined at some point. The two virtual options include Schoology, the one used in March when schools were ordered closed.
The other is Fox Chapel Area Online, a long-standing option for secondary students. If online is chosen, the district will make sure students have their own devices if they need one.
Board member Somer
Obernauer said, “I personally do not feel comfortable with us successfully doing a five-day option. I think the safety risks increase the more contacts we have. But the district deserves to at least give it a try.”
Member Adam Goode expressed appreciation for the work of Fox Chapel Area staff and teachers and the contributions from parents.
“This is the most complicated year I have ever seen,” he said, endorsing the fiveday elementary option.
Bethel Park
The return to school on Aug. 26 in the Bethel Park School District will either be fully remote or a hybrid model where students attend school in two cohorts two days a week and three days remotely.
School board President Pamela Dobos on Tuesday said the hybrid option is preferred. The board will meet again next Tuesday to finalize a reopening plan.
At a July 28 meeting, the board’s expressed goal was to get most students back into the classroom five days a week. About 69% of parents surveyed stated they wanted their children to return to brick-and-mortar schools.
“Since that time, the numbers in Allegheny County have not gone down. They’ve continued to increase,” Ms. Dobos said of COVID-19 cases in the county.
Also, Ms. Dobos said, the board has since received emails from many parents with questions and ideas for safely returning to school.
“We are changing course from what we thought we would do a week ago,” Ms. Dobos said, adding that the district still does not have all the answers to the questions that parents have been asking. She added that the board is still working out details regarding the remote learning aspect.
Tuesday’s meeting will be held at 7 p.m., and because of restrictions on the number of individuals that can safely be in a room together, the meeting will be held virtually.
It can be streamed live via Facebook at www.facebook.com/bethel.park.52 and can be viewed the following day on the Bethel Park School District official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ BethelParkSchoolDistrict.
Mars
The Mars Area school board Tuesday accepted the retirement of longtime business Manager Jill Swaney.
Ms. Swaney, who has been with the district for 30 years, will retire June 30, 2021.
She said her retirement plans include travel and renovating her house for resale.
Also, board member J. Dayle Ferguson announced that John Hays, who shepherded many district construction projects with Thomas & Williamson, died over the weekend.
“We have been blessed to have him as we have grown over the years,” she said. “The legacy John Hays left in our school district is just about every single construction project [and] renovation project. … He always had great ideas and always had our backs. We will really, really miss him.”