Board OKs 5 days of in-person classes

The Phoenixville Area School Board voted 7-2 Monday night to allow a return to in-person learning for five days a week, as well as an option for students to remain virtual for five days a week.

Athletics and extra-curriculars for high school students will begin March 22 and academics for the high school students will begin April 5. All activities for the lower grades will begin on April 5 under the plan adopted by the board.

The board went further than

that and, by a 6-3 vote, amended the plan and also required that the administration include a hybrid option for families who prefer that, an option opposed by both the administration and the teachers union as one too many options.

“It’s difficult to manage multiple learning opportunities, it takes a lot of time,” Superintendent Alan Fegley told the school board before the vote. During discussions with administration and faculty, “we became concerned about the burden of having all three options.”

Fegley said when board member Christopher Caltagirone made the suggestion last week, he was open to the idea, but the more he discussed it with teachers and administrators, he was convinced the burden was too much.

However, Caltagirone argued it is hypocritical for the parents, and board members, insisting families be provided the choice to send their students to class for five days while taking away the choice of those who already are using the district’s two- and four-day hybrid program and want to keep it.

For anyone who has slept through the last 12 months, a “hybrid” program allows students to spend either two or four days in class, and the remainder online. Some households have adapted their daily life to that rhythm and need to be accommodated as well, Caltagirone said.

“I get it. People want to back five days, I’m all for that if we give parents who want a hybrid option the same opportunity,” he said.

Board member David Golberg, who described having all three options as “a dumpster fire,” added “if you want a three-ring circus, give us three modalities. I find it ironic we spent last week discussing what the teachers want, and now we’re discussing something they definitively don’t want.”

Caltagirone’s amendment was one of several offered up that were, for the most part, defeated.

For example, a motion to have schools return to inperson class for only four days with Wednesday as an all virtual day failed by 7-2, with only board members Jerry Weiss and Jeesely Soto supporting the move.

Prior to voting, there was no shortage of voices from students and parents who all advocated for their preference.

“Now that teachers are mostly vaccinated, please let parents make the choice that’s best for them,” said another parent.

Fegley said at least 68 percent of the K-8 faculty have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and high school faculty were to begin getting vaccines Tuesday.

One 12th-grade student said keeping everyone at home is the safest option, and was followed by a parent who told the board “these kids need to get back into schools five days a week.”

Former board member Lori Broker said it’s hard for young people to sit in front of screens for seven hours.

“Teacher-student relationships are so important to success,” she said.

Facing choices bound to make someone unhappy, the board got a pep talk from one East Pikeland parent who thanked the board for making tough decisions and said she would support any decision they make.

This article first appeared as a post in The Digital Notebook blog.