Elementary school students in the Neshaminy School District are slated to return to classrooms four days per week come Monday.
The school board voted 8-0 Tuesday evening to approve students in grades kindergarten through fourth returning to classrooms as part of the “all-in” model.
Under the plan, elementary students can return to classrooms or remain virtual learners full time. All-in model students will be in classrooms Mondays through Thursdays and all students will be virtual on Fridays. The hybrid model will be phased out for elementary students.
While the district is starting with four days per week, Neshaminy hopes to move to five days per week once they are able to increase support staffing, officials have said.
The district is working on plans to bring back older students.
Superintendent Dr. Rob McGee said mitigation measures like mask wearing will be required and bi-polar ionization and ultra-violet germicidal irradiation systems will be installed in elementary school air quality systems starting next week. He also announced the district is partnering with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to provide rapid COVID-19 tests for students and staff, while additionally expanding the district contact tracing effort.
McGee noted that while there have been about three dozen COVID-19 cases among staff and students since early September, there has been very little spread through the schools. He added the only suspected spread of the virus through schools were from cases among two high school staff members.
Recent weeks have led to a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in Bucks County and around the country. Rates of hospitalization and deaths have also been increasing locally, but county officials have said schools are generally safe as long as students and staff are following mitigation measures.
Mary Cwiklinski, a Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) vice president and district teacher, told the school board that recent COVID-19 increases should give the school board pause as they look to returning students under the all-in plan. She said union members are concerned about moving away from the hybrid model with the spike in cases “out of concerns for the health of our students and educators.”
A Middletown Township mother who works as a nurse at a local hospital told the school board that she was concerned about the district moving away from the hybrid model and putting kids in classrooms more often.
“I do not feel currently is the proper time to move to the all-in model,” she said, citing the spikes in cases and worries cases could spread through the schools.
Middletown Township mother Deb Harker questioned the school board on their policy for allowing students back into classrooms under a shortened quarantine if they had close contact with an infected person. She said it was a district decision and she has worries over it.
McGee responded to Harker’s statements by noting that if all enrolled students opted for the all-in model, there would be at least 3 to 4 feet of distance in the smallest school. However, he noted that it isn’t expected that all students will return under the all-in model, providing more space in classrooms.
School board members Irene Boyle and Adam Kovitz mentioned that they would prefer to remain under the hybrid plan until January 11, but their suggestion gained little traction among the rest of the board.
Board member Tina Hollenbach responded by noting that parents are able to decide whether to return students to classrooms or stay online only.
Board President Steve Pirritano heralded the plan approved and said the superintendent has the ability to take actions, including shutting down schools, if cases expand.
“We feel this is a safe plan and the best plan,” he said. “We have all expectations it will go well.”
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