Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The Bristol Township School Board will consider bringing students back to classrooms at least four days per week.
Superintendent Dr. Melanie Gehrens said in a letter to parents Friday evening that the school board will vote on the plan at their Monday, March 15 meeting.
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“The Bristol Township School District has been monitoring the data continuously and determining ways to transition to more in-person instruction. We understand the importance of in-person learning and the social-emotional well-being of our children,” she wrote.
The school board would have to approve an expanded return plan and modify the current health and safety plan.
The district’s schools are currently operating under a hybrid model and offering full-time virtual instruction for students who are staying home. The full-time virtual opportunity would remain under the four-day in-person option.
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The district’s proposed modifications to the health and safety plan allow for desks to be closer than six feet apart when there are no other options.
Gehrens provided the following answers to some common questions:
How will social distancing be altered if students return to school in-person five days per week?
Within our current Health and Safety Plan, the desks are maintained at 6 ft when possible. In order to have students in full in-person, we would need to reconfigure our plan to reflect less than 6 ft distance in most classrooms.
What are the specific plans for increasing in-person instruction?
Beginning March 22, specific grades and groups of current hybrid students that are able to return using the 6 ft guidance will receive a letter indicating that they may return 4 days a week. At this time, it is our intention to extend this invitation to kindergarten students and students in the ELD program and students with learning support services since they make up a small segment of the overall school community. The Wednesday schedule will remain the same.
What if I do not want my student to return to in-school instruction?
Families will have the option to remain virtual five days per week from home.
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In advance of the March 15 vote, the school district administration is asking parents to complete a survey. The survey must be completed by next Wednesday.
The superintendent acknowledged there have been a number of communications from parents on in-person learning.
The vote comes after Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement that school staff will be given priority as the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine rolls out. His office has said the targeting of school workers with the vaccine should help reopening schools.
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As the Bristol Township School District prepares for the possibility of expanded in-person learning, several staff positions are being added. Gehrens said the district is hiring cafeteria workers, lunch and recess monitors, part-time custodians, and bus drivers.
Anyone with interest in applying can contact Alison Buchan, the district’s personnel coordinator, at 215-943-3200 ext. 2041.
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