Some Pa. school districts stop mandatory instruction, grading during closure

Some school districts have stopped assigning mandatory work during the state’s mandatory 10-day closure after a conference call with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and district leaders.

After Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement last week that schools should close to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, Woodland Hills Superintendent James Harris sent a letter to students instructing them to log in to the school’s online portal for assignments. Teachers in grades K-12 would be posting 10 days’ worth of assignments.

Harris was not alone. Many area districts sought to make resources available to minimize the disruption caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

But Harris had to backtrack that decision Thursday after the call with local education officials. District leaders and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit discussed state and federal regulations like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires schools to provide equal educational opportunity to both general education students and students with special needs.

The choice to cease mandatory instruction, Harris said, was because students who would normally receive special assistance or are involved in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) could not get the same support through online assignments. Continuing instruction online could present an equity problem, Harris said.

“Since we can’t do it for all, we can’t do it for any,” Harris said.

Woodland Hills High School Principal Phillip Woods sent a message to students and their families saying the Pennsylvania Department of Education had directed districts to stop new assignments. Eddie Willson, director of curriculum and grants, also sent a letter, explaining that from now on, all assignments would be completely voluntary.

Of the district’s approximate 3,400 students, Harris said around 1,000 have various needs that cannot be provided online. He said most school districts in Allegheny County have the same dilemma.

“We’re all not happy about it,” Harris said of the decision. “We were trying to do the best we could in a tough situation.”

Several area school districts have spent the last several days planning how to proceed with online learning. But without flexibility in addressing compensatory education, Harris isn’t sure Woodland Hills will be able to teach at all.

“Until this coronavirus situation is solved, we’re closed,” he said.

Rosanne Javorsky, interim director of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, said the decision to maintain instruction — mandatory or optional — during this two-week closure remains up to each individual school district. The conversation during the call, she said, was to brainstorm ways districts could best serve all students if their physical buildings remain closed.

“The AIU doesn’t have the authority to tell a school district what to do,” she said.

But violating IDEA could become a liability for a district. In that way, some districts have no choice.

“The conversation during the conference call stipulated if we could not provide for 100% of our students, then all work should not be mandatory and made optional,” Harris said. “The problem is we are not able to provide supports remotely for all students.”

Mark Holtzman, superintendent of McKeesport Area School District, said it’s been difficult to map a direction for the district when the state has been slow to provide specific guidance. At this point, he and many of his colleagues are “apprehensive” on whether or not they’ll return to work this school year.

“We’re just on hold here,” he said. “Waiting for more direction.”

If school closures last past Wolf’s initial 10-day mandate, Holtzman isn’t sure how McKeesport Area can provide equitable service to students with special needs.

“We don’t have the same capability as some of the more affluent school districts,” he said.

Both districts, and many others, are providing optional resources for students to complete on a voluntary basis. Some districts in Allegheny County, Javorsky said, are continuing to assign mandatory work, in compliance with IDEA.

“The one theme that has come out as we’ve gone on,” Javorsky said. “We do have a professional, moral, ethical obligation to educate all students, and that is what we’re going to do to the best of our ability.”