Burrell School District to vote on plan to reopen schools with virtual option

The Burrell School Board plans to vote Tuesday to reopen all schools when classes resume next month while providing an option for students to attend classes online from home.

“It’s the closest thing to being there,” board President Tricia Shank said of the virtual option.

Students can switch up between in-person and at-home learning, but parents will need to communicate such plans to the district in advance.

“You can’t leave it up to your fifth-grader to say, ‘I’m staying home today,’” Shank said.

With the help of the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit, Burrell will offer the Burrell eAcademy for students who can’t join live instruction classes virtually.

The preliminary plan was built so that it can adapt to change if Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders change.

“Either way, we are set up to retract and go totally virtual or have schools totally open,” Shank said. “We don’t want to be constantly reinventing the wheel here.”

In a survey of district parents, 70% of respondents said they wanted their children learning in the classroom. Student interaction is important to parents, Shank said.

Highlights of the district’s Proposed Health and Safety Plan:

Students will have to wear face masks on the bus and in the schools. The district wants to offer “face mask breaks” and find ways to give students the social distancing space to take their masks off.

Parents must screen children in the morning for raised temperature, a cough and other covid-19 symptoms.

Students and staff will be trained on hygiene practices, such as washing and sanitizing their hands. Students will learn to sanitize their work space before sitting down.

Traffic flow in hallways and stairwells will be as directional as feasible. Teachers will move classroom to classroom instead of students as often as possible.

The district wants to find ways to have students and staff touch surfaces less. Water fountains will be closed, doors will be propped open and other measures will be taken.

Hand-sanitizers will be available throughout classrooms and hallways. There will be additional sanitization of school facilities.

Students will wear masks on the bus and be expected to take the next available empty seat. Siblings can sit together.

There will be staggered arrivals and departures to prevent crowding.

Cafeteria food will be served by staff from menus that students can order from weekly. Social distancing will be exercised in seating arrangements.

Extracurricular activities may be offered as long as state Department of Education guidelines are strictly followed.

During the yellow and green phases of reopening, sports-related activities are limited to student-athletes, coaches, officials and staff only. Visitors and spectators will be contingent on health conditions in the region and the state.

All volleyball, soccer and football varsity events will be streamed in the fall of 2020.

Tuesday’s special meeting is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. It will be held virtually, and the public will be able to listen in and comment. Board members will meet in person.

The district will post details to join the meeting Tuesday on its website, www.burrell.k12.pa.us.