New Kensington-Arnold superintendent acknowledges distancing problem in 3rd-grade classes

New Kensington-Arnold School District is working to fix a problem with reduced social distancing in some third-grade classes at Roy A. Hunt Elementary in Arnold, Acting Superintendent Jon Banko said.

Distancing in three or four combination social studies/science classes in the grade is reduced from 6 feet to 5 feet because of the number of students in the class, Banko said.

While all of the district’s regular education classrooms can hold 18 students with the recommended 6-foot distancing, those classes have 19 or 20, he said.

Going to 5-foot distancing allows for another row of desks, Banko said.

For most of the day, third-grade students are in classrooms with 16 or fewer students, he said.

“There are some things that can be done,” Banko said, while not providing specifics. “You have to keep in mind that kids sometimes don’t come to school. You’re not always going to have all those kids.”

Jason Moore, a teacher and president of the district’s teachers union, said he was not able to comment on the matter.

School board President John Cope could not be reached.

The larger classes weren’t an issue until Oct. 5, when students who had started the school year learning online at home were able to return to district buildings. District officials considered going to a hybrid schedule if too many students opted to come back, but decided to stay with five-day-a-week, in-person instruction.

The percentage of students in schools increased from 53% to 64% districtwide.

Maintaining 6-foot distancing is a problem only in the third grade at Hunt, and only in that one class, Banko said.

First- and third-grade classes in the district are large, Banko said. While first grade has some classes maxed out at 18 in a classroom, in other grades there are between 11 and 13 students.

“We’re trying to work some things out with first and third grade,” he said. “We want to have a safe environment.”

Banko said he still believes the district made the right call in staying with five-day, in-person instruction.

“To go to hybrid districtwide, it doesn’t make any sense to do that when we’re talking about three or four classes out of hundreds of elementary classes,” Banko said. “The trade-off is you go to kids having school two days a week face-to-face to just accommodate a couple of classes with extra kids in them.”

Students “get the best learning experience when they’re here,” he said.

While parents can return children to schools only at opportunities provided by the district, those uncomfortable with having them in school can opt to remove them for online learning at any time, Banko said. He said some parents who sent children back on Oct. 5 have since changed their minds and put their children back in the online program.

“That’s acceptable,” he said. “We appreciate them calling us and letting us know. We want our families to be comfortable with sending their kids to school. This is a difficult time for people.”

2 teachers had covid-19

Banko confirmed that two district teachers had recently tested positive for covid-19. One was at the high school, the other was at an elementary school, but Banko would not say which one.

Those teachers have already gone through a two-week quarantine and returned to work, he said.

Banko said the district has moved custodians around to have more working during the day to keep buildings disinfected.