Board gets rundown of students in class, virtual and hybrid

LANSDALE >> Two weeks after the North Penn School District allowed more students to return to in-person instruction five days a week, the numbers are coming in, and a small group of students is now the center of attention.

District officials and the school board gave an update Tuesday night on the breakdown of students staying at home versus coming to school, teacher vaccinations, and a big date coming soon.

“District-wide, we are at pretty much onethird, one-third, one-third: slightly higher are in five days, at 34.5 percent, 32 (percent) in hybrid, and 33.5 on virtual,” said Superintendent Curt Dietrich.

In late February the school board voted to allow students to return to five days of in-person instruction, stay fully virtual, or choose a hybrid mix of the two, after months that had alternated

between fully virtual and partially hybrid instruction. On Tuesday night, Dietrich gave the latest statistics, as of March 5: roughly 46.7 percent of elementary school students were back to five days in-person, 25.7 percent hybrid, and 27.8 percent virtual, with the in-person numbers dropping and virtual increasing for older students.

Across the district, 57.7 percent of kindergarten students are back in classrooms full time, 19.1 percent hybrid and only 23.3 percent virtual, while the percentages at the high school are nearly reversed: 15.2 percent of 12th graders are back in five days, while 40.2 percent are hybrid and 44.6 percent fully virtual. Tracking data at all 17 schools, North Wales Elementary has the highest percentage back in classrooms five days in-person, at 55.4 percent overall, while Oak Park Elementary has the lowest at only 35.3 percent; the three middle schools are between 23.9 and 25.9 percent, and the high school is at 19.6 percent five days in-person and Northbridge School at only 3.3 percent.

District data also shows those who have returned or stayed virtual broken down by other demographic traits, including race: only 14 percent of students classified as Asian have returned to five days in-person and 63 percent have remained fully virtual, while 26 percent of Black students are in-person five days and 39 percent virtual; white students are the largest group back in schools, at 45 percent back in-person and only 24 percent remaining fully virtual. The district has also compiled data breaking down the attendance levels by lunch status, whether students qualify for free and reduced price lunches or pay, and that data split by grade level.

Since the last round of parent surveys were sent ahead of the Feb. 22 return to five-day instruction, the district has fielded a total of 950 additional requests for five-day in-person instruction, Dietrich said. Eight of the 13 elementary schools those students attend can meet those requests, and at six of those eight, students will need to be reassigned to different classes to meet safe distancing requirements.

At five of the 13 elementary schools, a total of 36 students are in what the superintendent termed “a holding pattern” after those requests: “we have 36 students that we cannot fit in, at the six feet of social distancing.” At the secondary level, the district can fit all 173 students at the high school and 113 at Penndale Middle School who have requested to come back, while at Pennfield Middle School 91 have requested to return, and 15 may need to check in with one teacher and attend virtually from elsewhere in the school due to space constraints, while at Pennbrook Middle School a total of 105 have requested to come back, of which 22 would need to attend some classes virtually and three remain unmet.

“We’re looking at lots of things that are extremely important to us, safety of course being extremely important,” Dietrich said.

“So far, we have not seen evidence of linked transmission: we are not seeing evidence that students or staff are getting the virus at schools,” he said.

As of Tuesday night, out of roughly 2,000 total teachers across the district, a total of 620 had received either full or partial vaccinations, largely through the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit or those who live outside of Montgomery County, with another 900 scheduled to receive vaccinations this week, 254 who have declined one vaccination opportunity, and 239 waiting for the next wave of available vaccines, Dietrich told the board.

“All of our K-through-six (teachers), who have said ‘Yes,’ they are interested in being vaccinated, are on that list. And if they didn’t already get it, they should be getting an opportunity to sign up this evening, if not tomorrow,” Dietrich said.

Per state and county guidelines, kindergarten through fifth grade teachers, special education, bus drivers and school nutrition services personnel were in the first round of those offered vaccinations, while secondary level teachers will be in the next. So far, student achievement data has shown test scores at the secondary level for the first semester close to those in normal years, but with some drops in final exams, which Dietrich said staff are analyzing to spot trends.

“There were some that are concerning. There were others that were strong. So we are working with that information, to deal with the necessary adjustments, and see what additional supports we might be able to provide to students,” he said.

The next concern for the board, he added, is April 6: that day is the first back in school after students and staff have a spring break, and other nearby districts have expressed concern about possible spread of COVID-19 after students and families return from any travel.

“That is a date that is commonly discussed, as we look ahead to the spring calendar,” he said.

Board Vice President Christian Fusco asked if staff had considered how to handle standardized tests, such as the PSSA and Keystone exams, which are typically administered in-person and data from which can impact the district’s state funding. Dietrich said that’s been “a matter of a lot of discussion right now” at the state level, about where, when and how to hold those tests.

“It won’t be something that’ll be offered virtually. That’s not permitted. So lots and lots of discussions are happening. Where this is all headed, I’m not certain, but I can tell you that it’s causing a lot of heartburn for a lot of schoolteachers and administrators,” he said.

A lengthy discussion followed, largely centered on the number and rate at which teachers are being vaccinated, and how to return the 36 elementary students currently unable to fit in available space for five day in-person instruction. The 36 unmet requests come from a total of five schools: 16 at Montgomery Elementary, nine at General Nash, six at North Wales, two at Oak Park, and three at York Avenue, with 20 of the 36 in first grade, spread across the schools.

“Out of approximately 6,500 elementary students, we’re talking about 30some, in that total,” Dietrich said.

“As we look to spring, will that number increase? Will there be additional requests? That’s up to us in terms of entertaining those, and I think the board has to have that discussion,” he said.

Additional studies are starting to show that a shift from six feet to three feet of distancing could be done with little impact to student safety, which the superintendent said could help fit that handful of students into classrooms if the board feels comfortable relaxing the guidelines, and the state and county do the same.

“Other studies are now starting to come out, and the conclusion seems to be that the masking is what’s extremely important, and the distancing, whether it be three, four, five, or six feet, is not nearly as significant,” Dietrich said.