Will PA Schools Reopen In The Fall? Leaders Hopeful But Uncertain
PENNSYLVANIA — Schools in Pennsylvania have been closed since mid-March, and will remain so through the rest of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected more than 50,000 Pennsylvanians.
As districts grapple with online learning, parents struggle to ensure their children don't fall behind, and students long for social interaction, one question lingers: Will schools reopen in the fall?
The short answer is no one knows for sure.
Last week, state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a call with reporters that a fall opening is not guaranteed at this point. “We’re preparing for the best, but we’re planning for the worst,” Rivera said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer and ABC27.
Eric Levis, the Pennsylvania Department of Education press secretary, said schools are "adapting constantly" but stopped short of saying a fall reopening is guaranteed.
" At this time, there are no plans to keep schools closed in the 2020-21 school year; however, any future decisions made regarding school openings will be grounded in the health and safety of our students," he said in a statement provided to Patch.
All reopenings are "contingent on public health guidance provided by the Secretary of Health and stay-at-home orders issued by the governor," he added.
Local officials say they're hopeful schools will resume for at least some in-person instruction in the fall. But first, the region must meet the benchmarks in place for the governor's tiered reopening plan. And there's currently no timeline in place for the Philadelphia region to achieve the green phase. RELATED: No Timeline For Philly Area Reopening, Top Health Official Says
In order for the hard-hit southeastern region of the state to reach the state's final "green" phase, where major mitigation measures are lifted and schools can reopen, there would need to be fewer than 50 new confirmed cases per 100,000 population in the previous 14 days. To put that into context, that's 415 cases in 14 days in Montgomery County alone.
Montgomery County officials said they are closely monitoring the situation related to schools, and hold discussions every 10 days with the 22 district superintendents. "We're all very hopeful that schools will reopen in the fall," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said in a news conference Friday.
But even if schools are able to reopen in the fall, the learning environment will likely look different and heath guidelines would be in place, experts say.
Levis, the Department of Education press secretary, said there may be a combination of in-person and remote instruction. A hybrid attendance approach may be utilized to allow for social distancing. This could mean staggering days so one set of students attends in the morning, and a second group goes in the afternoon.
"During the time when students aren’t physically in the school, maybe they could be participating in other classes remotely," he said.
Educators across the state are fervently planning, and weighing many options.
"I firmly believe that if there is any safe way to open schools in the fall they (the superintendents) will find it," Arkoosh said.
In Bucks County, Council Rock School District officials say they too are hopeful schools can resume in September with new health guidelines. But they're also planning ahead for an alternative scenario.
"We need to be prepared and have begun the initial work of developing proactive contingency plans in the case that the governor directs Pennsylvania school districts to extend the current closure into the 2020-2021 school year," said Council Rock School District spokeswoman Susan O'Grady.
She said the district is examining the costs of bulk hand sanitizer and thermometers, "should we need to purchase them." The administration is also exploring how a school day would look with social distancing guidelines in place in the lunchroom, on buses, and in the classroom.
Lower Merion School District in Montgomery County has formed a task force to formulate contingency plans, said spokeswoman Amy Buckman. The educators are exploring everything from continuing with remote learning to providing a blend of remote and in-person learning, to a return to all in-person learning — a prospect Buckman said "seems unlikely."
"It may be that a certain percentage of students will attend school each day, so that social distancing can be maintained, while the rest have remote assignments for days they’re not physically in the buildings. In the meantime, teachers and staff are continuing their professional development to build skills, resources and processes related to remote education," Buckman said.
And even the best laid plans may be derailed by the virus, forcing parents, students, and districts to be flexible.
"Schools may start with in-person instruction but may have to switch to remote learning if the virus reemerges," Levis said.
More than 1.12 million cases of the virus and at least 65,700 deaths resulting from COVID-19 have been recorded in the United States as of Monday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control. President Donald Trump says he now believes as many as 100,000 Americans could die in the new coronavirus pandemic.
There was hope on the horizon as this past week came to a close, as some states started the arduous process of reopening and a treatment was approved. Gov. Tom Wolf said 24 Pennsylvania counties will have some mitigation measures lifted starting May 8.
However, experts say you should hold off on making any big plans this fall and winter because the coronavirus likely won't be a thing of the past anytime soon.
A second round of infections is "inevitable" come fall, brought on as Americans resume normal life and more states ease or lift their stay-at-home orders, said Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the White House coronavirus task force.
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>>>PA Coronavirus Updates: 24 Counties To Begin Reopening May 8
This article originally appeared on the Newtown Patch