New Kensington-Arnold near 'tipping point' that would force change to hybrid schedule

New Kensington-Arnold School District is very close to the “tipping point” with the number of students who want to return to schools, and as a result may have to go to a hybrid schedule, Acting Superintendent Jon Banko told the school board Tuesday.

The district set a deadline of 8 p.m. Wednesday for parents to indicate if they want to send their children now learning from home back to schools. Banko said he expects to know by Thursday afternoon if too many students are opting to come back than the district can accommodate while maintaining social distancing because of covid-19.

Parents who don’t want to make a change are not required to do anything, Banko said.

New Kensington-Arnold gave parents the option of having their children in schools full-time or learning online from home full-time. Those who did not inform the district of their choice were enrolled in the online program by default.

At the start of the school year, about 53% of students returned to schools, while the rest stayed home, according to Banko.

Oct. 5 is the first opportunity for students at home to return to schools. Banko said between 100 and 150 students across all grades already have indicated they want to come back.

He could not say how many more students the district could take in before it would need to go to a hybrid plan. But he said the district is “very close” to that number, and can’t take in many more.

A hybrid plan would mean students would be broken into two groups, with one in schools on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other in schools on Thursdays and Fridays. Students would learn online the days they’re not in buildings, and all students would learn online on Wednesdays.

If the district goes to a hybrid schedule, Banko said it would keep families together in the same groups, so older students could watch their younger siblings.

Banko said the district would prefer sticking with full-time, face-to-face instruction if possible.

Students learning at home are able to return to school buildings only at certain set times, Banko said. Students in schools can opt to change to online learning at home at any time.

If the district does not go to a hybrid schedule, Banko said students who come back to buildings but find it isn’t working for them would be allowed to go back to remote instruction.

For the upcoming picture day, Banko said online students will be permitted to come to their schools to have their pictures taken.

“There’s a lot of little things like that that are important to the school experience,” he said.