Parents tune in to talk on reopening
Superintendent explains virtual, in-person and hybrid learning
Nearly 1,000 people tuned into Monday evening’s Wissahickon School Board virtual meeting to get answers to a big question: What’s in store for this fall?
More than 100 area residents submitted comments with their opinions prior to and during the virtual meeting broadcast on Zoom and YouTube.
“Please do not sacrifice your children or their teachers/school staff in your efforts to return to ‘normal’. The risk is simply too high,” said Tom Scott, a Wissahickon community stakeholder.
“We are imploring [the district] to have in-person instruction available for our children, as other neighboring school districts are providing this as an option for parents who are essential employees,” said Anthony Scalise, a Wissahickon School District parent.
According to Kristen Rawlings, Wissahickon School District’s communications coordinator, as of about 8:30 p.m. Monday, 472 people watched the meeting on YouTube and another 518 viewed the meeting on Zoom.
Additionally, there were roughly 60 submissions made for public comment. Wissahickon School Board President Joseph Antonio noted that at least an additional 50 questions and comments were submitted during the roughly 3.5-hour meeting.
“We were not surprised by the large number of parents, staff and students who tuned in to watch the special school board meeting and who submitted comments or questions,” Rawlings said Tuesday morning. “Our school community is hungry for the details about the upcoming school year and the educational options we are offering as a result of the pandemic, including in-person, hybrid or 100 percent virtual.
“What those options look like — everything from safety precautions to how instruction is delivered — is critical information for our families to be able to determine what will work best for them during this unprecedented time.”
Community members pressed education officials, asking questions about a variety of topics including busing, face coverings and learning options.
“The buildings are overcrowded, and we have yet to hear the specifics of any plan for keeping the children masked and socially distant, let alone for adequate precautionary measures such as frequent surface sanitation, contact tracing and disclosure mechanisms to alert parents of potential exposure,” said Ellen Goldrich. “Prior to opening, will you have a comprehensive plan for each of these items?”
Other commenters said Wissahickon needed to step up its game when it comes to reopening schools.
“Other local districts were able to provide reasonably rigorous academic programs utilizing significant synchronous class interactions this spring; WSD needs to be prepared to implement something comparable to other districts in the fall,” said David and Susan Rothschild.
The Rothschilds suggested crowdsourcing assistance from area residents to help get the schools ready to reopen.
“There is a wealth of talent in our community — let us help you help the students!” they said in a submitted comment.
Scott, however, blasted the local leaders for moving too quickly.
“If it is not safe enough for board members and district administration to meet in person to discuss reopening schools, it is NOT safe enough to send students and staff back into the buildings,” Scott said in a submitted comment. “Even in school, with faceto-face instruction, teaching and learning will not be of the same caliber to which WSD families are accustomed. The hands-on, engaging, collaborative activities that make our classrooms so great are not safe in the COVID-19 climate.”
After hearing from numerous commenters, Wissahickon Superintendent James Crisfield addressed members of the public and the school board to try to provide some clarity during this public health crisis.
Crisfield listed three key priorities for parents and board members to keep in mind:
• Health, safety and wellbeing
• Instructional rigor and excellence
• Flexibility (as much as possible)
Crisfield placed an emphasis on a number of goals including being “realistic as to what we can do” based on the fact that the “districts’ capacities and leadership teams are stretched to the absolute max right now,” he said in his presentation. Crisfield also said parents need to “accept a continuum of safeguards” and “recognize trade-offs.”
He added that the need to “minimize [the number] of people in one place as often as practical” and “maximize outdoor time.”
“That’s a pretty well established way of preventing the spread,” he said. “And principals and teachers are challenged to get creative in this regard. Are they gonna like that? No, because it’s hard, and if it’s pouring out obviously it’s not possible, but we have creative people and I know they can figure something out.”
School officials shared the results of a survey that
had solicited opinions from residents about reopening.
According to results of the June survey, 43% of people favored the 100% in-person model, 48% preferred a hybrid method and 9% liked virtual. One month later when asked to choose between in-person and online, responders said that 75% preferred the in-person scenario while the remaining 25% favored the virtual option.
So what do these choices look like for the district’s four elementary schools, middle school and high school?
According to Crisfield, students in kindergarten through fifth grades are eligible for 100%attending school in-person everyday. It’s “no longer an option for students in grades six-12.”
Teachers would arrange the classroom to allow for 4 to 6 feet of distance for desks and “maximize distancing as much as humanly possible,” he said in his presentation.
While Crisfield added that “we’re gonna go backwards in time of what classrooms are gonna look like,” guidelines stipulate the need to “limit movement as much as possible.”
“We all know in a kindergarten classroom that movement is just about the first thing you build into a lesson plan, but you can’t accomplish distancing with a whole lot of movement,” he said.
While students would wear “face coverings at all times,” Crisfield implored educators to allocate time to “get outside as much as possible” during class and recess sessions.
Moving onto the hybrid option, different students would attend school “every other day,” while having “asynchronous learning from home” on the other days to lessen the volume of people in a given space, according to Crisfield. This approach would be considered as “the only ‘in-person’ solution” for sixth through 12th grades. School officials will also mandate “face masks at all times” per the state’s order.
The final fully virtual scenario
would give students “100 percent remote instruction,” Crisfield said in his presentation. Families would have the opportunity to opt in “by semester.”
According to Crisfield, parents have until July 31 to decide on sending their children to the classroom or to their computer for a virtual learning experience.
While Crisfield acknowledged the differing opinions surrounding the somewhat controversial topic of face masks, which could be considered as several materials including a mask and shield, he made his intentions clear.
“The district leadership team believes in the efficacy of face coverings, very strongly,” Crisfield said. “I know that not everyone in the community agrees with that . ... We believe it’s an essential item of the overall strategy.”
According to Crisfield’s presentation, “face coverings [must be worn] at all times when inside,” and less than 6 feet from others “until further notice.” However, he did say there would be
some “exceptions.”
Solicitor Jeff Sultanik stressed the importance of compliance as not doing so could put the district in a position to lose state funding or its charter.
“As long as that [state] order is in place, we have no discretion in terms of the implementation of that order,” Sultanik said.
As for the other precautionary measures, Crisfield had a number of solutions ranging from travel-based quarantine to conservative disinfecting practices to athome temperature checks.
“There is a very real need to quarantine after travel,” he said.
He also plans to limit “large gatherings” at school “until further notice.”
As for sports, Wissahickon will take direction from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Crisfield said.
Parents with school-specific questions can contact their respective principal, he said.
The next Wissahickon school board meeting is scheduled for July 20.