Accepting, as Superintendent of Schools John Sanville said, that “There is no single best answer,” Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors voted 7-2 Monday night to approve a hybrid type of opening for the school district next month.
The health and safety plan the board voted on may be found here.
The plan calls for elementary school students in grades K-3 to attend classes in school buildings five days per week, but all other grades will attend in-person classes for two days each week with synchronous online classes the other three days. About one-third of the student body will be in the actual buildings at a given time. The K-3 group will be in classes of no more than 12 students each. However, parents will have the option of having their children attend online classes without the need to go to the actual school for all age groups. Students may also flex in and out of all live synchronous instruction.
Options may change as the school year progresses, depending on the COVID case-rate. If necessary, all classes could become virtual as they were after the shutdown in March, Sanville said. Conversely, if there’s a vaccine that could eliminate the need for social distancing, then in-school classes may resume fulltime.
Monday night’s vote came after hours and hours of public discussions and surveys during the last month. Even after the discussion, as Sanville said, “There was no clear path forward” in how to start a new school year while not knowing what may happen regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each of the directors said they had to balance the needs for the physical health of the students and teachers, but also their mental health and well-being of the students, especially the younger ones.
As Director Tom Day said before the vote, “There’s really no perfect decision. However, I, along with my board colleagues are asked to make a decision that reflects what is best for our community…We need to make a decision that elevates both safety, equally emotional and physical safety, and flexibility. To me, the hybrid plan best achieves this goal.”
According to Director Victoria Baratta, “This is as weighty a decision as I’ve ever had to face, and I’m acutely aware of the real financial, educational, health, and emotional risks inherent in every action on the table. There’s no correct answer that we currently know of.”
Director Steve Simonson said, also before the vote, that no matter what decision would be made, “a significant portion of the community will be disappointed.” However, he added, “Our role as a school board is to make the best decision we can for our children, our employees, and the taxpaying residents of the district.”
Director Erin Talbert said the aim was to “try to balance competing needs: legitimate concerns for our students, and not just for their education, but also their physical and mental health, and also the concerns of our faculty and staff. Not just their livelihood, but their health…The administration has been responsibly revising the plan, adjusting as new data is learned and new ideas, better ideas are hatched.”
Those adaptations, she said, were a result of guidance from various sources, such as the state Department of Health and the Department of Education, as well as listening to the concerns of parents, students, and teachers.
The two nay votes came from Elise Anderson and Rashi Akki.
Akki said, “The emotions in our community span from fear to craving for normalcy, and everything in between.”
She acknowledged that there are some people whose fear level prevents them from accepting a return to brick and mortar schooling, while others want a return to normalcy. To people on both extremes, she said board members have taken all of their opinions and concerns seriously.
Anderson said there have been myriad factors under consideration, “and they’re not all weighted equally in my mind.”
Discussions Monday night also addressed the ventilation systems within the district buildings and whether the systems can refresh the air properly, and how frequently desks in the classrooms should be cleaned.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools John Nolen said desk cleaning should not pose a problem. He said that’s when there could be a break with students going outside for a “mask break” while the desks are cleaned.
Directors also approved a safety plan for fall sports programs.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
