Norwin considers postponing return to in-person classes as covid-19 quarantining rises

Norwin’s superintendent on Monday recommended the district postpone the return to full-time in-school instruction planned to resume Nov. 18 because coronavirus cases have risen in the school district and community, forcing the 14-day quarantining of “hundreds of student and staff” in the past few weeks.

Superintendent Jeff Taylor said at the board’s virtual meeting that the number of cases in Norwin is high and continues to rise. Some schools in the region have closed because of the spread.

“The trend (of school closings) is going up,” Taylor said.

Brian Carlton, school board president, said Tuesday that he supported Taylor’s recommendation not to fully reopen the schools at this time, saying that a synchronous hybrid model of instruction where students receive instruction from their teachers in real time, is the best method, coupled with the continuation of face-to-face instruction two days a week.

Although his goal has been to return to full in-class instruction, “with the increase in covid-19 numbers parlayed with the amount of quarantines required by the Department of Health, we are not there yet,” Carltons said.

t.Board members on Monday did not offer an opinion on Taylor’s recommendation that Norwin continue teaching half of the student body in school on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays, with everyone getting virtual instruction Wednesday and the two days a week they are at home. Some students are receiving full virtual instruction through the Norwin Online Academy.

Norwin delayed full reopening from Nov. 4 to Nov. 18. Taylor previously said that any reopening would occur two weeks after the previous reopening date, meaning it is likely the school would not start five day a week instruction until Dec. 2 at the earliest.

In the past month, Norwin has closed the high school, intermediate school, middle school and elementary schools at various times because of the spread of coronavirus, which required sanitizing the buildings.

Taylor raised another issue with an increase in coronavirus, which he said is contributing to a high number of absences. He said there is a “severe shortage of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals to serve as substitutes.”

“There is literally not enough employees in the building,” to operate safely, and that would require schools to close, he said.

To improve virtual instruction, Taylor said the district is working to enhance its information technology system to implement synchronous learning — giving teachers the opportunity to instruct in real time — after Thanksgiving.

One parent, Michelle Roper of North Huntingdon, told the board that she favored the school reopening full time to those students and parents who want their children in school five days a week.

Roper said her three young children have not had a good educational experience with virtual instruction.