Leechburg Area School District students will return to the classroom 5 days a week

Leechburg Area School District students will return to a pre-pandemic schedule this fall.

The school board voted unanimously last month to return to in-person learning five days per week, eliminating previous virtual Wednesdays.

“As of now, we are planning a return to school that will look the same as it did prior to covid,” Superintendent Tiffany Nix wrote in an email sent to district parents and guardians.

The district implemented virtual Wednesdays last October, with all students receiving instruction remotely to allow custodians to clean and sanitize district buildings.

Nix said families will be notified throughout the summer and wrote they will be “in the know” about any updated plans and guidelines from the Department of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Pennsylvania Department of Education.

School board President Neill Brady said virtual learning will remain as an education option, but all remote instruction will be synchronous — happening at the same time as in-person class instruction.

Brady said the district has updated teachers’ computers with camera technology that allows for better views and streaming of classes using the Google Classroom app.

Brady said there were no comments from the public during the board’s last meeting, pro or con, regarding the return to the classroom five days a week.

“I feel the five-day (in-person) education is good for the students,” Brady said. “And the virtual learning for the students will be enhanced because they will be in front of a teacher in real time.”

Brady said he didn’t know if masks would be mandatory this fall but said state education mandates would be followed.

Nix said any family with extenuating circumstances prohibiting a child from returning to school for in-person instruction is asked to contact their respective building principal.

She said appointments will be set beginning in July.

Nix said virtual days will continue to replace snow days for the 2021-22 school year. More information will be forthcoming in the fall.

The district does not require staff or students to be vaccinated for covid-19.

“By law you can’t mandate it,” Brady said.

District families with questions about the return-to-school plan are asked to call 724-845-7701.

The first day of classes is Wednesday, Aug. 25.

No tax increase

Nix reported in the same email that the school property tax rate won’t change next school year.

Brady said more than $1 million in federal emergency relief funding contributed to the tax rate remaining unchanged. The emergency funding must be spent by 2024.