Penn Hills schools to be election day polling places, students to learn online

Penn Hills School District schools will be used as polling places on election day while students learn online.

Superintendent Nancy Hines said staffers will use the opportunity as a test for flexible instruction days, an option for school districts to continue education in lieu of cancellations like snow days.

The district began the 2020-21 school year Sept. 8 in a hybrid model due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Students at the elementary, middle and high schools were placed into two groups. One group has in-person classes Monday and Tuesday while the second goes to school Thursday and Friday. All students are online Wednesdays.

Hines said the district’s application for flexible instruction days (FID) has not yet been approved by the state Department of Education. The application may be altered depending on how staffers handle election day.

“Shifting to 100% remote learning for K-12 students on Tuesday, Nov. 3 will not only benefit our Penn Hills community by allowing each of our three schools to serve as polling sites, it will also allow us to pilot a FID and to address glitches ahead of that day in the future when we will have to call a FID based on weather or related issues that make on site learning not the best option that day,” Hines said via post on the district’s website.

School board President Erin Vecchio supports the use of flexible instruction days and said there are no snow makeup days on the district’s 2020-21 calendar. The last day of classes is currently set for June 11.

“(Students) don’t have to be out of class for emergencies because we can do it right online,” Vecchio said.

The board president also believes that, if approved by the state, FIDs could help with future planning.

“I think it’s wonderful because that helps us get out of school earlier, and it also helps us with the calendar to start earlier and get out earlier,” Vecchio said.

It is unclear when the state would approve the district’s FID application.

An email to education department was not immediately returned.

More information about FIDs is available at education.pa.gov.