As Fox Chapel Area students returned to in-person classes this week, officials said there is no current plan for middle and high school students to be in the buildings on a full-time basis.

Elementary students have returned to five-day, in-person classes but older students will remain in a hybrid learning model, Superintendent Mary Catherine Reljac said.

“We are living in rapidly changing times,” she said during a Dec. 1 school board meeting. “The last two weeks have been extremely eventful for school districts.”

Currently, there are 10 active cases of covid-19 in the district, with a total of 42 cases since the beginning of the school year.

Dorseyville Middle School has seen the highest total number of virus cases with 18, 13 of which were confirmed in November.

“I said earlier that the administrative team was considering moving to five-day instruction at Dorseyville as early as December and a four-day instruction at the high school as early as January but I’m not recommending any changes to the hybrid model at this time,” Reljac said.

The district spent two weeks in virtual learning, through Dec. 4, because of surging covid-19 cases in Allegheny County.

Reljac said the district is carefully tracking the virus numbers and will continue to modify the learning plan as needed.

“Our goal is to try to provide as much in-person instruction as possible and to provide athletics and other activities,” Reljac said.

Board member Adam Goode suggested that if a building is in virtual learning mode, sports in that building should be suspended. The motion amendment was tabled after much discussion, with many comments relaying that student-athletes who are exposed to covid-19 are already expected to quarantine.

Goode said that he was attempting to provide consistency rather than saying students can be in the building for some activities but not for school.

“If we’ve determined that the building should not have students in it, then the building is closed,” Goode said.

Board member Eric Hamilton said that a change in the instructional model is different from the athletic model.

“It doesn’t mean that a team of 10 or 20 kids can’t meet to practice,” he said.

Board member Amy Cooper said it’s hard to say that sports can continue when in-person school can’t.

“But when we’re looking at hundreds of kids in a building versus 15 or so kids spaced out, there’s definitely a difference,” she said.

The school board approved the district’s winter sports season during its Dec. 1 meeting, with safety guidelines recommended by county health officials.

Hamilton questioned at what transmission level the district would return to entirely remote learning. Reljac said her team is in constant contact with Allegheny County Health Department officials for guidance and will follow its recommendations.

In addition to the number and context of covid-19 cases, the district could have to move a school or the district to remote learning because of teacher absences, lack of substitutes or bus drivers, an inability to provide food because of cafeteria employee absences or a lack of custodians or nurses.

“We know that schools are among the safest places for our students at this time and that the covid-19 cases in our district do not seem to be a result of transmission in our buildings,” Reljac said. “We hope that parents and guardians will continue to do their part in helping to mitigate the spread of covid-19 so that we can continue to offer in-person instruction.”

Officials said online learning options, including FCA Virtual Blended, FCA Virtual Asynchronous and FCAO, will continue for anyone who chooses to remain at home.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)