Fox Chapel Area School District prepared for shifts in instructional model

Fox Chapel Area administrators are considering ways to add a day of in-person instruction to the district’s hybrid model, or return to class entirely, but recommendations have not yet been brought before the school board.

Superintendent Mary Catherine Reljac on Monday night gave a detailed report of her team’s efforts to monitor covid-19 and its impact on a full return to school.

“We are continuing to look at what the implications would be and what processes would need to change to add students into the building,” Reljac said.

She said school leaders are in “intense planning” sessions so they are ready to transition if that move is recommended.

Some people who tuned in to the more than three-hour Zoom meeting told Reljac and board members they are frustrated that the district is not moving more quickly.

“I am disappointed and insulted that we are not talking tonight about going back five days,” said Annie Westbrook of Aspinwall. “We need our children back in school, and we need to understand the exact metrics used to make that decision. Stop being complacent and educate our children in the classroom.”

Others said that at the minimum, the district could add students back on Wednesdays which are currently dedicated to sanitization.

Some parents suggested alternating hybrid cohorts so that groups are using the building on separate weeks.

Still others requested a covid-19 dashboard to be added to the district’s website to relay up-to-date statistics in district communities.

Dana Kellerman of Fox Chapel said that whether it is recommended by the Allegheny County health department, a covid-19 tracker would go a long way in providing transparency and helping families choose an educational model at the end of each nine-week grading period.

Kellerman said the information wouldn’t need to divulge private details, only which schools are affected.

“It would be giving granular information to the larger school community and go a long way in reassuring the community that the district is operating in a responsible fashion,” Kellerman said.

Currently, the district’s policy is to alert “close contacts” of anyone who tests positive for covid-19.

That includes a specific description of anyone who is within 6 feet of the infected person for at least 15 minutes, starting from two days prior to symptom onset or diagnosis.

“It wouldn’t apply to passing someone in the hallway, or standing by a locker,” Reljac said.

In cases that aren’t able to be easily tracked, she said, the district would contact a larger audience.

“We balance what people want and need to know. We will never not communicate if someone has been put at risk,” she said. “Those who need to know will always know.”

The district’s back-to-school plan includes several learning models that the board is able to toggle between based on how the coronavirus impacts the district.

Included in the options are a five-day return to class, a hybrid model with two days of in-person learning, Fox Chapel Virtual and Fox Chapel Area Online.

The full plan is available at fcasd.edu/coronavirus.

Reljac said school leaders review data daily and consider the covid-19 cases in the county and locally while also considering where the district would struggle to maintain social distancing in buildings.

“Our goal is five days a week but to do so in a way that makes sense,” she said.