Why some local districts have added in-class school days while Easton, others balk
Updated Feb 14, 2021;
Posted Feb 14, 2021
Families join in a Rally to ReOpen Lehigh Valley Schools on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021, where Mickley Road, Main Street and Schadt Avenue intersect in Whitehall Township.Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com
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Approaching a year since COVID-19 forced students out of the classroom and parents into the role of teachers’ aides, Lehigh Valley schools have begun adding more in-school days.
But it’s not an easy switch, nor is understanding the changing and sometimes confusing recommendations on balancing education and safety, school officials say.
CHRIS MORELLI cmorelli@lockhaven.com
MILL HALL All Central Mountain High School students will return to the classrooms beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
The announcement came at Thursday night’s meeting of the Keystone Central School Board.
The district had been employing “cohort schedules” for the past several weeks. The cohort schedules featured students A through L (cohort 1) attending class in person on Monday and Tuesday, while Wednesday and Friday were remote. Students M through Z (cohort 2) were remote Monday through Wednesday and in person on Thursday and Friday.
“Late (Thursday) afternoon, it was confirmed that Central Mountain High School will be able to bring all students back next week, starting on Tuesday, as we have no school Monday (Feb. 15),” Superintendent Jacquelyn Martin said. “I believe that communications went out to families and staff.”
An unusual coalition of education groups from superintendents and school boards to teachers unions asked Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday to prioritize school staff for the COVID-19 vaccine, calling it an “absolutely essential” step toward reopening schools and keeping them open.