A screen shot of the North Penn Board of School Directors work session meeting on Feb. 9.
During a Tuesday night work session of the North Penn Board of School Directors, the board voted to pass a plan that would allow five-day, in-person learning for those parents requesting it as soon as Feb. 22. Superintendent Dr. Curtis Dietrich noted that teamwork, statistics, and mathematical configurations made the change possible.
The board’s meeting, which was itself held virtually via Zoom, focused a work session on returning to a five-day model for those requesting it. A survey was sent to parents prior to the discussion, seeking parents’ preferences moving forward.
According to Dietrich, 2,325 of the 6,458 elementary students, as well as 1,041 of 6,062 secondary students were requesting such a change. Meanwhile, only 749 elementary and 1,003 secondary students had requested the hybrid model. The remainder of students requested to remain virtual.
Dietrich noted that if parents did not respond to the survey, the child was placed in the model in which he or she already was currently enrolled.
“Some had selected hybrid and changed to full virtual,” said Dietrich. “Also, some that changed from hybrid now wanted to go in-person.”
No matter the days physically in the classroom, Dietrich noted that the main focus of the new plan was to maintain social distancing in all classrooms.
“In order to make a good decision on the ask, we had to look at every classroom in every building, which vary in size, vary in how many students were in them, and the different delivery patterns,” he said. “Six feet of social distancing will be maintained, and we will continue to emphasize that.”
Dietrich said that the plan would include some changes to current layouts and models. For example, some students’ classrooms may change location, while others may need to change teachers to allow for distance to be maintained.
“Some may need to change to another teacher on that grade level’s team,” he said. “In some cases, we may need to hire somebody else.”
No matter the change, the superintendent noted that the school “would approach the family” prior to authorizing such alterations.
“The team would have discussions with parents,” said Dietrich. “We would have dialogue with families regarding what would be the best for each student.”
As each of the district’s 13 schools has a different square footage, differently sized rooms, varied layouts, and unique class sizes, each individual room had to be addressed in the plan.
“We are able to meet the requests, while maintaining six feet of social distance,” said Dietrich. “Parents will need to be flexible. We will have to talk about that and the various solutions.”
For example, in four cases, an additional educator would need to be hired. However, should such additions be necessary, the hirings would occur with federal grant money.
“[Funding was] put out for this very reason, to meet needs during COVID,” said Dietrich. “To be able to do it, we would be able to hire four additional teachers.”
Changing of a teacher was not something the administration took lightly.
“If it does require a new teacher, parents would have to be okay with that,” said the superintendent. “If the answer is they decide not to, or to stick with hybrid, then perhaps we would not hire four teachers.”
At the middle school level, he said that some schedule changes may need to occur, such as changing a student from one section of a particular class to another. Because of the greater amount of classes offered, number of students, and frequent daily movements of students, the plan for North Penn High School has not yet been formulated.
“For the high school, we are still working through the numbers there,” said Dietrich. “There are many periods and sections, many interactions, and we are still working through that.”
Parents can expect principals to communicate the changes to families by a Feb. 16 deadline. Some preliminary queries may occur prior for particular students, for example one needing a change of teacher. Once families are notified, the community can expect the week of Feb. 16 through 19 to be a transitional period.
“School staff, administration will prepare for changes,” said Dietrich ,of the week between. “It might necessitate bringing in desks that had been removed, getting seating charts updated, or perhaps we have to move an entire classroom.”
No matter the request, parents can set Feb. 22 as the “effective date for change and delivery model.”
Overall, the board supported the measures, and said they were happy that such a model could be derived through dedicated planning.
North Penn School Board Vice President Christian Fusco said he was proud of the progress.
“The administration has done a great job of providing us information through email and communications through weeks to give us an opportunity to consider the wisdom of returning students to five day,” he said. “It’s been a long time, since March, since students have had some sense of normalcy with regards to school.”
The vice president noted that safety would not be sacrificed in the new delivery model.
“Our original concerns were always related to prioritizing safety first, and I still think we are prioritizing putting safety first,” said Fusco. “I think we have better information to work with in terms of understanding transmission rates in schools.”
Better statistics, added to the county’s expanded ability to perform rapid testing, and the start of a vaccine distribution plan made the change possible, according to Fusco.
“There will be some families that will be asked to make some sacrifices to make this work,” he said. “But, we are in this together as a community; sacrifice may be needed to make things whole. I think, in the big picture, we have to be able to expand our ability to provide a five-day option.”
School board member Jonathan Kassa said he agreed with Fusco. He said that increased resources at a county level were immensely helpful.
“Now we have protocols in place to give this a serious, genuine effort. Like we’ve been saying for almost a year, this will never be perfect. It’s about a consensus and compromise to get to the other side.”
Still, Kassa did warn that change may occur in the future.
“If there is going to be transmission in schools, we will address it,” he said. “If the data goes sideways, we will be shut down. [The board is] doing all we can to keep you safe using a measured approach, with both safety and education combined.”
Boardman Al Roesch agreed, adding he thanked all those that made such a return possible, from those that clean the rooms, to the drivers and teachers on the front lines.
“I have faith and thank you,” he said.
Board member Timothy MacBain echoed the sentiment.
“What North Penn is going through is very indicative of a school district that is using the science and every resource to find out the best way forward,” said MacBain. “Other school districts are trying to figure out how to bring more students in after attempting a hybrid model.”
MacBain said he appreciated the “data-driven way” the district handled the new plans, and was happy to “work to bring best possible resources from county level.”
Others remarked that the plan now allows for the best of all worlds.
“We’re giving the parents the choice,” said Roesch. “Parents are deciding what is best for the child, and that’s what I like the best.”
School board member Juliane Ramic said the same.
“With a district as large as North Penn, being able to provide a path to reopening, rooted in parent choice, shows amazing leadership,” she said. “We’ve had to make really tough decisions.”
Ramic said that there may be “disagreement in the community about what has happened,” but thinks that the new plan is a step in the right direction.
“Taking into consideration what we have in the moment, know in the moment, assessing community resources and community partnerships, what we have on hand … I thank [the administration] for hours and hours of meetings. I am appreciative of that,” said Ramic
Following the discussion, Fusco motioned for the plan to pass. All six of the on-camera board members in attendance voted in the positive, passing the plan into motion, including Ramic, Macbain, Roesch, Kassa, Fusco, and Board President Tina Stoll.
The plan will come into effect on Feb. 22.
See also:
North Penn School District Serves 1 Millionth Free Meal To Students During Pandemic
North Penn School District Earns Meritorious Budget Award For Sixth Straight Year
Pennsylvania Schools Receive $2.2B Pandemic Relief Aid
North Penn Begins Assurance Testing Of Staff For COVID-19
North Penn Announces COVID-19 Assurance Testing For Staff Beginning Next Week
