Penn Hills School District reopening plans call for mix of in-person, online classes

Penn Hills School District administrators recommend a hybrid in-person learning model, and an online learning option for families to start the upcoming school year.

“This is not forever,” Superintendent Nancy Hines said after Wednesday’s safety/buildings and grounds committee meeting. “This is just to start.”

Back-to-school plans were formally revealed that evening.

The board is expected to vote on them on Wednesday, Aug. 12.

The hybrid model has students split into two groups with one group coming to class Mondays and Tuesdays. The other group would be in the buildings Thursdays and Fridays. The groups would be learning online on their off days.

All students would be online Wednesdays while deep cleaning is done at all facilities.

Those sanitation efforts would be in addition to the daily cleanings of classrooms and common areas.

Desks would be set 6 feet apart to promote social distancing. Signage encouraging that practice, as well as good hygiene, will be posted in the buildings.

Plans also indicate parents would perform health screenings and temperature checks on their children prior to them coming to school.

Board President Erin Vecchio said she wants to explore federal grants to bring in a company for temperature checks instead of relying on parents.

“If it doesn’t cost us a dime, why wouldn’t we look into it,” Vecchio said.

The hybrid option would be available for at least the first quarter of the school year.

Students coming back to the buildings would be required to wear face coverings in school and on buses. Staffers also will be wearing masks. Bus drivers would have extra masks for students who are at bus stops without one.

The district is working on getting computers for all students to assist with the online and hybrid-learning models. Students in either plan would be taught by district teachers.

Laptop, meal arrangements

District Technology Director Russ Seibert said thousands of Cromebooks are on order and are expected to be available by the end of the month.

District Food Services Director Tammy Davis said staff would serve meals in containers, but they would not be prepackaged products. Officials are also exploring having meals available for online learners as well as sending hybrid students home with food for their out-of-school days.

Survey shows split in teaching preferences

Hines said parental surveys indicated more than 1,300 people wanted to have some form of in-person learning while about 1,900 would consider staying online.

Board member Rob Marra took administrators to task for not having as detailed a reopening plan as other school districts.

“I just don’t see that we have done much to put in here,” Marra said. “We leave so much out of there. We don’t have a lot of ‘what ifs,’ what if these things happen. I don’t know if I can really vote on this plan to be submitted to the state as our reopening plan.”

Parent Heather Houlihan agreed, and said there may not be enough information for parents to make an informed decision for their students.

“I have several friends who sit on local school boards, and all of their plans are more comprehensive than ours are,” she said. “They’ve known for weeks exactly what everything looked like.”

Houlihan also said the surveys that were sent out were “very innocuous” and asked what parents would be willing to do and not what they were going to do.

More details to come

Hines said what was presented was “an overview” of the work, and more details will be made available. She noted the district received guidance from the Allegheny County Health Department as well as took into account safety guidelines from the state Department of Health and other health organizations when formulating the plan.

The district was considering having students and staff back full-time five days a week.

Hines said she took that option off the table because there was not enough comfort with teachers, aides and other instructional staff to come back full time.

“A lot of the instructional staff haven’t been here for a substantial time since March,” Hines said. “To have them all connect with the kids who haven’t been here pretty much at the same time, for five days, I think that would be very overwhelming and there would be a lot of anxiety for both groups. I’d rather manage it and phase them in.”

Board Vice President Yusef Thompson Sr. said the administration has done the best it could without clear guidance from the state.

“This is a Catch-22,” he said. “We could bring kids back for five days. What if somebody comes in and they have (covid)?

“We didn’t get anything from above. We don’t have a mandate from Harrisburg stating this is what you have to do. This is a school district by a school district decision. Most school districts are going with their own model. Pittsburgh Public is going the first nine weeks totally cyber. … I believe we are doing what we feel is best.”

The board could opt to bring students and staff back to the buildings five days a week later on in the school year if it’s deemed safe enough.

“I’d love to have them back five days a week, but we have to see what the numbers are,” Vecchio said.

A draft of the plans is posted on the district’s website.