Greater Latrobe secondary students to begin fall with partial online instruction in revised plan

Greater Latrobe’s latest fall instructional plan calls for elementary students to return to their classrooms five days per week while secondary students will begin the academic year under a hybrid model that will provide just two days per week of in-person learning.

The school board approved the plan Tuesday. Originally, the district envisioned a full return to classroom instruction for all students.

The hybrid model provides at-home instruction three days a week. The plan will be re-evaluated Sept. 25.

District officials said the revised plan resulted from changing guidance from state and local health authorities during the coronavirus pandemic.

Board members and administrators expressed frustration that state health and education officials issued altered guidelines on Aug. 10, after the district approved a return plan in July.

But board President Dr. Michael Zorch, a retired emergency room physician, noted the majority of a committee of local medical professionals the district has been consulting agreed with the shift to hybrid instruction for secondary students.

He cited data indicating that children age 10 or older have the same risk as adults for contracting and spreading the coronavirus while there appears to be a lesser risk for younger children.

“There’s good science behind it,” Zorch said. “It makes good public health sense for the time being. We don’t want people to get sick if we can avoid it.”

Mask up

Masks will be required for all student riding school buses and for all students and staff in school except when eating or drinking and during 10-minute breaks, during which they must keep at least 6 feet apart, per updated guidance from the state. Masks also may be taken off when it would be unsafe to wear one while operating equipment or performing specific tasks.

“We will build in mask-free breaks,” said Superintendent Georgia Teppert.

She asked parents to encourage students to wear masks while on the bus or at school but acknowledged it may be a challenge for younger students.

“Our goal is not to discipline students” about mask-wearing, she said. “We are going to work with students.”

Online instruction may be the best option for students who cannot or will not wear a mask, Teppert said.

Parents were given the choice of having full-time online instruction for their children, with 436 students signed up for that option. There are 2,950 students signed up for at least partial in-person learning, while parents of 74 students hadn’t responded.

Dates to remember

Students in grades 1-6 will return to classrooms Monday, Aug. 31, and those in grades 7 and 9 will take part in orientation activities. Students in all other grades will return Tuesday, Sept. 1, save for kindergartners, who will report the next day.

A Virtual Back to School Night will be held for grades 1-6 next Wednesday, Aug. 26. Parents are to receive email invitations for one of three 20-minute sessions.

Video presentations explaining the latest plans for fall instruction are to be posted on the district website.

Bus assignments are to be posted on the site on Monday, Aug. 24.