Most of the North Penn School Board of Education agreed at Tuesday night’s worksession meeting that the current COVID-19 metrics are acceptable enough to move forward with planning for students to return to school.
Although no new composite data has been released since last week’s action meeting, the positivity rate and incidence number metrics for the North Penn area over the past three weeks supports the possibility of reopening schools.
Superintendent Dr. Curtis Dietrich said he expects new data to be released later this week.
Board member Cathy Wesley said she is ready to proceed based on the recent metrics, and she is confident in the district’s health and safety plan.
“That health and safety plan that was developed very early on in the process… speaks to what we need to use,” Wesley said. “I don’t think we need to keep reinventing the wheel here. We have specific data, we have roads, paths, that have already been provided.”
Once the board established that yes, it does plan to move ahead with reopening schools at some point, the discussion shifted to how and when.
The board approved a $500,000 technology order at last Thursday’s action meeting, of 50-inch televisions and Bluetooth microphones to help classroom teachers implement a hybrid method of teaching. The order was placed the following day and although NPSD coordinator of communications media Robert Gillmer said they haven’t yet been shipped, he also believes a similar order placed in August should be delivered within a week or so.
“We were looking at getting that equipment [from the new order] by third week of October there,”
“Once I have the actual dates of shipping… we’re going to need to receive that equipment - and it doesn’t mean a truck rolls up with 800 of everything on one day - and get it distributed to our buildings to be assembled,” Gillmer said.
At that point, Gillmer said he’s got a tech team to assemble all of the equipment and install it in the classrooms, a process he expects to take a little over a week.
“Where I think would be comfortable, and this would be my recommendation, is that we have our teachers working with that for at least a couple of days, if not a week, before we bring students into the classrooms,” Gillmer said. “I think trying to do all of this the very first day of having the equipment in their classroom and also teaching kids in person is a major lift to do that.”
Ultimately, Gillmer said he can’t give an official timeline until he gets shipping dates from the manufacturers for the equipment.
Dietrich mentioned that Nov. 9 was the tentative date for a return to school, and the calendar may work in their favor.
“When you look at the November schedule, Nov. 2 and 3 are in-service days…” Dietrich said. “Perhaps that could be a time when teachers could really be working with the equipment.”
“This is a model that is completely without precedent. We ask a lot of our teachers, and they reliably answer the call time and again,” said Vice President Christian Fusco. “We need to make sure that they’re prepared to do this. And to just on day one say, ‘Well you’ve been doing it with a laptop in front of you. Now here’s a giant computer and a camera, and a microphone, now you have to incorporate your Smartboard, half your kids at home, half your kids are in front of you.’ There’s behavioral considerations. There’s a lot that is going to go into this particular hybrid model, that is not going to be well designed to just pick up right away on day one and do well.”
Fusco ended by saying he believes the board can’t at this point just pick a date to return to school, that there are too many variables and moving pieces that need to be placed first.
“These are considerations that are completely out of our control,” Fusco said. “We should let the circumstances surrounding the return of schools dictate the date… And say, ‘Well, we believe in the teachers.’ It’s not enough to say, ‘We believe in them.’ You have to actually support them, and that means providing them the time, resources and training to put this in place effectively.”
Board member Elisha Gee concurred.
“There’s just so many variables that are going to be playing into this,” Gee said. “If we want it to be done well, I think we really do have to allow the administration to come up with a timeline for us that will meet our expectations.”
The board also discussed the possible format for returning to in-person instruction. Dietrich outlined the hybrid A/B model, which would possibly divide students by alphabetical grouping.
“At the elementary level, we pin down whether A day is Monday and Tuesday or Monday and Wednesday, and B day is Tuesday and Friday, or what pattern,” Dietrich said.
At the secondary level, the hybrid model will be more complex to facilitate because of the scheduling of different courses.
“How do you marry an A/B schedule with A-B-C-D-E-F [days]?” Dietrich said.
The board agreed to meet again on Oct. 1, to continue this discussion and trying to plan for safe return to schools for students and staff.
See also:
North Penn Holds Preliminary Discussion On Potentially Reopening Schools Under Hybrid Model
Parents Express Concerns, Frustrations With Distance Learning At North Penn School Board Meeting
Editorial: North Penn Continues To Show It’s Up For Challenges Posed By COVID-19
North Penn School Board Avoids Furloughs, Votes To Reduce Hours For 600-Plus Employees
In A Split Vote, North Penn School Board Approves High School Fall Sports For Upcoming School Year
