Wyoming Area School Board votes 5-4 to return to hybrid learning

In a virtual special meeting lasting about an hour and 15 minutes as administrators answered questions sent in by residents, Wyoming Area School Board voted 5-4 to move to hybrid learning beginning March 22.

Under the move, about half the students will be school Tuesday and Wednesday while others learn at home, with the two groups switching Thursday and Friday. Monday would be a virtual learning day for all students.

With all nine members present, those voting against the plan were Lara Best, Leonard Pribula, Nick DeAngelo and Toni Valenti. Best voiced the strongest desire to have all students who want to attend in person do so.

That move would create an issue if any students preferred to continue learning live at home, Solicitor Jarrett Ferentino said, requiring the district to negotiate terms of such a setup — teaching live to those at home when all were allowed to return — with the union.

That issue was addressed in a second vote to authorize Ferrentino to make those negotiations with an eye toward giving all students the option of attending in person or learning live at home online. The motion passed unanimously.

Superintendent Janet Serino began the meeting by confirming she did have COVID-19 “for six weeks” and is still experiencing “respiratory distress,” but adding she has been able to work with the administrative team and will continue to do so. She thanked people for their support and “kind thoughts” during the illness.

Before the vote, Serino then read questions submitted on line and either answered them directly or had the appropriate administrator do so:

• Asked how long the district might stay in hybrid before returning students full time, she said that depends on the situation, though “the goal is to get everybody back in school.”

• Principals gave slightly different answers as to whether students will get recess, but all said it depends on whether they are in hybrid mode or full attendance. Generally, hybrid would allow some break for students while still wearing masks, maintaining social distance and not using shared equipment, but full attendance would be more problematic. Both may involve staggered breaks.

• All buildings except JFK have air conditioning, and air flow will be increased to the maximum if students return, but special ventilation or filtering equipment has not yet been purchased. Serino said that is being discussed, but other purchases, particularly Chromebooks for all students during remote-only learning and adequate Personal Protective Equipment had a higher priority earlier in the pandemic.

• Students will not be allowed to board a bus without masks, but drivers have been given ample supplies of masks for any who don’t have them.

• All schools have isolation areas if students become ill or if daily temperature checks on entry reveal a fever, where they will wait for a parent or guardian to pick them up. Asked by Best why temperatures won’t be taken before boarding a bus, Serino offered multiple problems, including what to do with a student who has a fever but who was alone at the bus stop with no parent to take them home. She did, however, promise to review options with her staff.

• Asked why some teachers have been allowed to stay at home while in remote-only learning, Serino said some had compromised health that put them at higher risk if they contracted COVID-19, and the district wanted all teachers available. Some who may have come in contact with a person who then tested positive for the virus but still feeling well would teach from home while in quarantine, she added. More teachers are willing to come to school now than at the start of the outbreak last March, she added, and that number should keep rising as Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to get all teachers vaccinated unfolds.

• If students need extra support once back in hybrid mode, Serino said the district will work on a case by case basis to see if some can attend in person more than two days a week.

• Asked if students would be allowed to move to hybrid and back to remote-only learning if they wanted to, Serino didn’t rule it out completely, but said the district would prefer once a decision is made, it remain unchanged for the rest of this school year.