Greensburg Salem moves to 4 days a week in April; district prepares to vaccinate staff

Greensburg Salem teachers will begin receiving covid vaccines Friday as the district prepares to bring students back to school four days a week.

Hayden’s Pharmacy will administer the first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine to district faculty and staff, according to Superintendent Gary Peiffer. The second dose likely will be administered by the end of March.

All school buildings will be closed to students Friday because of the vaccine clinic. Students will learn remotely.

Some teachers can opt to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit next week, Peiffer said.

Starting in April, students will have the option to return to school four days a week. Wednesdays will remain a day off, used for teacher training and catch-up sessions for students who need extra help, as has been the case since the beginning of the pandemic.

Families can choose for their students to learn fully remotely instead of returning to school.

High school seniors already have the option to attend four days a week, a decision implemented last month.

The school board voted 7-1 Wednesday in favor of the return to school. Board member Stephen Thomas was not at the meeting. Board member Lynna Thomas (no relation) cast the dissenting vote.

Lynna Thomas said she still has concerns about staff and student safety. She pointed out covid vaccines take a week or more after the administration of the second dose to reach maximum effectiveness, and the rate of new covid cases in the county remains higher than in March 2020, when the district first closed schools.

“I’m concerned about us being at the tail end of a pandemic where our numbers are still higher than they were last year when we went out,” she said.

Peiffer said bringing students back is necessary to help them recover some of the academic progress that has been lost during the pandemic.

“We have taken reasonable precautions,” he said. “I think we’d be doing more damage keeping kids out of school.”

He pointed out other local districts, such as Penn-Trafford, have brought students back.

“Our kids deserve the same opportunities the kids in those other districts have,” he said.

Board President Ron Mellinger agreed.

“That’s what I’m looking for,” he said. “Give them a chance by bringing them back to school.”