All trends and metrics are pointing toward a mask-optional North Penn come Aug. 30.
North Penn School District Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich proposed to the school board Tuesday night a districtwide mask-optional, 5-day, in-person school year for 2021-22, and it would require certain binding commitments from parents, starting near the end of June.
To those parents who plan on sending children into school in September: The district will soon be asking you to commit to a trimester at the elementary level or a full year at the middle school and high school levels. This formal binding request will hit emails anywhere between Thursday and June 24, according to the presentation.
Most parents attending the meeting virtually voiced strong opposition to a mask-optional rule at the elementary level. At present, children under 12 have not been approved for the vaccine. North Penn’s elementary program runs kindergarten to sixth grade. Dietrich said he heard children could be eligible for the vaccine as early as the Fall.
“This is what we are expecting as of today. It’s not said with certainty – we’ll see how things progress,” Dietrich said during his presentation, which he gave alongside Assistant Superintendent Dr. Todd Bauer. “I hope all of our students can return and be at full capacity. We are not anticipating any social distancing restrictions. As it looks right now, we are headed toward much better numbers.”
The district is also proposing a return to field trips, events, and extracurricular activities districtwide. Specials, like gym and art, would return to the normal four-day cycle.
There will be a synchronous, online opportunity at the elementary level, taught by a district teacher to students who are all in the same grade, but not necessarily all in the same school. At the secondary level, the district is proffering an asynchronous North Penn Virtual Academy option, with the teacher of record being a district teacher with office hours and support.
Smiling schoolyard faces returning in the fall is contingent upon Centers for Disease Control guidelines regarding masks in school settings; the school district will be basing a final mask-optional decision on current COVID-19 infection trends issued by the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, who takes its direction from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, who takes direction from the CDC.
The CDC could recommend state and county public health agencies make masks mandatory again, Dietrich said. No one knows what can happen. Dietrich said Philadelphia Public Schools have required masks for the fall, for instance. The state health board, he said, can thank the CDC for guidance, but then go above and beyond in terms of restrictions.
“We have to be prepared if virus numbers increase as the year progresses,” Dietrich said. “There might be recommendations coming to change guidance initially in place when school starts. We have to be ready for that and be agile. There are no promises to any of this, is what we’re anticipating at the elementary level.”
The board will continue fleshing out final details for the expected in-person influx at its action meeting June 17 – which will also mark the first in-person public meeting since the start of the pandemic. It will be held at the Educational Services Center at 7 p.m., and public comments will be in-person only. The board suspended its pandemic policies in a unanimous vote Tuesday.
“We are asking for another survey and a commitment to a trimester or a full year, but there could be changes in the health and safety plan. So, we may start with masks optional, but we may have to reinstate guidelines,” board member Juliane Ramic said. “We are looking for a return to normal and a level of certainty, and community support and flexibility in the coming year to make this work again.”
The current North Penn school year is three days away from being over for the summer, and that has many people taking (cautious) sighs of relief.
All district parents shared a sort of virtual reality since March 2020, when state mandates governed the halt to in-person learning and unleashed a flurry of daily schedule shifts to coincide with North Penn virtual learning rules. Parents reluctantly became homeschool teachers. As local infection numbers shifted, the district regulated the option of hybrid learning for students, and later, the option of some students returning to the classroom full-time.
Dietrich and Bauer’s presentation highlighted COVID-19 checkpoints since February. On Feb. 23, when the district began opening opportunities to families to send students every day, 34.5% of students returned to school five days a week, according to Bauer. Hybrid students and 100% virtual students hovered around 33% each.
Almost half of all the 5-day students were from the elementary level, according to data.
While this was happening, there were 89 positive COVID-19 cases across the district’s residents, and the number of positive cases per 100,000 residents was 88.3, per data from the county. The 14-day positivity percentage average was 5.9%.
“(The percentage of five-day instruction) across grade levels is almost a perfect curve for K to 12,” said Bauer.
One month later, the first two numbers rose to 102 and 101.1, respectively, but the 14-day positivity average dropped to 5%. By mid-March, 44% of students were 5-days and hybrid dropped to 24%. Full virtual numbers remained steady.
In April, the number of positive cases among district residents grew to 118, and the incidence rate was 117, and the positivity average jumped to 8%. At the time, 50% of students were 5-days in North Penn schools, and hybrid students totaled 20%. By mid-April, 65%of 5-day students were in elementary schools, according to data.
“In April, there was a spike in data we noticed within the school district, shortly after Spring Break,” Bauer said. “
Then, by May 27, the numbers dropped drastically – there were only 19 positive cases across the district residency, and the incidence rate was 19%. Only 2.1% of all tests performed the prior two weeks were positive. As of May 27, 53% of students were in schools five days a week, with 18% remaining as hybrid.
North Wales, Nash and Walton Farm elementary schools have been near the top of the list for five-day attendance. The kindergarten level alone is at 77.2% for 5-day attendance, according to data, meaning all but a quarter of kindergarteners are back full-time.
“It’s been declining since,” Bauer said of the data figures. “Certainly, there are many reasons: warmer weather, more people are outside, and vaccinations. Those are reasons why we are seeing trends.”
The county COVID data is just one ingredient in this recipe. The district is also looking at data compiled from the following sources: An April-May 2021 District Operations Survey sent to staff, families, and students; a May 26 survey sent to families on 2021-22 intentions; meetings with Dietrich and community members and staff; board meetings; emails; phone calls; and school-specific focus groups.
An interest survey netted 6,784 responses, Bauer said, and the district operations survey netted 5,670 participants.
“As it stands,” Bauer said, “89.9% said they are intending to send their student back come September, and 7.9% said they were undecided, and 2.2% said there were looking at virtual and not returning.”
Dietrich said the district would follow county public health guidelines on contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine. At present, he said, asymptomatic vaccinated individuals do not need to quarantine if there is a COVID close contact. There is a possibility for use of antigen testing in the “Test to Stay” program, he said.
“If you were in close contact and not vaccinated, you could continue to be tested and stay in school, as long as the tests are negative,” Dietrich said. “It’s a potential program in September.”
Ramic wanted to ensure there was an option for a child in quarantine for 10 days to access work through an asynchronous environment.
Board member Dr. Elisha Gee asked Dietrich about a firm move-forward date for a decision. He said anything past July 15, as far as scheduling teachers and the like, would get extremely difficult.
“I’m not sure a lot is going to change this summer,” he said. “We are trending in the right direction. We are starting to achieve virus suppression – when you start to get the incidence rate down to 10 per 100,000, and the positivity rate under three percent. We think it’s difficult if we don’t have a commitment by mid-July.”
Board Vice President Christian Fusco echoed numerous parent dissention and said he has reservations about the mask option in elementary schools.
“I think there would be a number of families that may want to return and will have an inverse reaction and keep the child home,” Fusco said. “I think it would serve as a deterrent for some folks. Clearly, we cannot continue to have six feet … but there are still variants out there.”
“I am in an elementary school every day, all day. It’s not the dystopian hellscape people make them out to be,” Fusco said. “There is an annoyance (with masks). (But) I am very cautious in terms of what is unknown.”
See also:
North Penn High School Student Selected As U.S. Presidential Scholar
Dr. Pamula Hart Appointed To Director Of Curriculum And Equity For North Penn School District
North Penn Partners With Montco Mobile Crisis Unit To Form Traumatic Event Response Team
North Penn Appoints Two Elementary School Principals
North Penn Music Education Program Earns National Recognition
