Franklin Regional pushes back start date, modifies reopening plans

The Franklin Regional School District has modified its plan for the 2020-21 school year and pushed back its start date to Sept. 8 after officials said new state health guidelines made it impossible to properly maintain social distance at its high school.

Students up through eighth grade will have three options — five days per week in-class, fully online through the Franklin Regional Online Academy (FROLA) or a hybrid model.

High school students will have to choose between the hybrid and fully online models.

“As we predicted, things continue to change,” Superintendent Gennaro Piraino said at Monday’s school board meeting. “We’re unable to get, based on the size of the classroom and the number of students, the 6 feet between desks.”

New state guidelines issued in mid-July made no reference to allowing masked students and staff within 3 feet of one another, a number that officials said was included in previous health and safety recommendations.

And while the new state guidelines ask districts to allow 6 feet of separation “to the maximum extent possible,” Piraino said district officials feel an ethical obligation to meet the 6-foot mark.

“That means in classrooms where we need to fit 24 to 30, we’re now able to fit 15 to 17,” he said.

High school students in the hybrid model would be split into two groups and attend in-person instruction two days per week.

An “A” group would attend Mondays and Tuesdays, a “B” group would attend Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays would be designated as a “C” day, where students can attend school based on teacher invitation, personal requests or district assignment.

On their online days, any student can report to a designated area on campus called the “FROLA/Hybrid Café” to stream classes online or receive assistance from a specially trained online support staff member. The availability in the FROLA/Hybrid Café would be subject to the number of students and how many can safely use the area while maintaining social distance.

“Our goal at the high school is to work backwards from a fully virtual online platform to a brick-and-mortar setting, in the hopes that we can all return as rapidly as possible,” Principal Ron Suvak said.

Health and safety

Even with new health and safety measures in place, school board members relayed concerns from parents, and concerns of their own, about the return to school.

Board members Paul Scheinert and Gregg Neavin wanted to know more about measures to determine if a student is covid-positive and how contact tracing will work.

“I think that’s a big one on everyone’s mind,” Neavin said. “We’ve got kids walking into school who are going to do whatever they’re going to do on Labor Day. And on the 8th of September they’re going to walk into our buildings.”

Middle school nurse Beth Frydrych said school officials will not check symptoms or temperatures at the door, as they’re not recommended by state health officials or the CDC. The district will rely on parents to do so at home.

“How can I guarantee that? I wish I could,” Frydrych said. “What we have to ask our parents and community is to look at this as a community effort. It will truly take everyone doing their part to make sure our community stays in check.”

In the event of a positive covid-19 test in the district, Frydrych said school officials “will work hand-in-hand with the (state) Department of Health. They will help dictate how we proceed as a district.”

Frydrych said contact tracing will include “looking at daily attendance, where that child is sitting during the class period, and determining who truly is a contact.”

Click below to view Monday’s meeting in its entirety.

Piraino said the goal for hybrid-model students is to limit their exposure to others.

At the elementary and middle schools, hybrid students would have a group of teachers and classrooms, while five-day-a-week students would have another group.

“We’re trying to eliminate those close-contact opportunities for our five-day and our hybrid students.It’s designed to honor the rationale behind offering a hybrid model,” Piraino said.