Back to class in UCF

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on March 9, 2021

It's not full-time yet, but the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board voted Monday night to approve a new health and safety plan that gets more kids back into real classrooms.

While virtual instruction will continue for those who want it, the new policy opens the doors for full five-day per week classes for all students beginning March 15.

"The circumstances around us have certainly changed," said Superintendent of Schools John Sanville before the vote, "Most notably the change in the Chester County Health Department's guidance, and also the transmission rates [of the Coronavirus]."

Noting that case numbers of COVID are falling, Sanville said the goal has always been to keep people —students, faculty, and staff — safe. The modified plan continues with that goal maintaining mask requirements, adding antigen testing, monitoring changing conditions, and following the county Health Department's guidance.

Pre-first and first-grade students went back to the classroom on March 1 and John Nolen, the assistant to the superintendent, said that has gone "very well." Second-graders were already scheduled to return to full-week in-classroom instruction on March 15. With the vote approving the plan change, now all students will be invited back, Nolen said.

Tim Hoffman, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said there are two phases to returning to brick-and-mortar instruction.

"Phase one, for elementary school students, is to invite all students to return to in-person instruction every day effective March 15. That would be for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday full days from 9:10 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. Wednesday would remain a half-day from 9:10 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. with a modified kindergarten schedule," Hoffman said.

Phase one for high school students is to invite them all back for in-person schooling, also on March 15, while maintaining their current schedule, Hoffman continued.

For middle school students, they, too, are all invited back for in-person work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with a virtual Wednesday in phase 1.

Phase 2 involves returning to a regular schedule, Hoffman said. He explained that would mean a full day of classes on Wednesday for elementary school students and ending the virtual Wednesday for middle-schoolers. In short, Wednesdays would become regular school days, and all secondary schools would operate five days per week from 8 a.m. to 2:43 p.m.

Of concern with returning to the classroom is the matter of social distancing. Hoffman said there is majority support among members of the health plan task force for allowing a reduction of that distance from six feet down to three feet for students but maintaining a six-foot distance for teachers, staff, and other adults.

Moving to phase two would be considered next month.

"We do recommend that we review this concept of phase two sometime in April, once we've been in phase one for a while," Hoffman said.

It was also learned during the discussion that staff and faculty at the schools will begin getting the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine beginning later this week.

The vote to start phase one passed unanimously, with several board members commenting.

Director Jeff Hellrung said, "From the beginning of the pandemic, we've been weighing the risk of the virus against education…The risk of exposure to the virus is less than the risk to education."

Erin Talbert said the plan is "sound and in keeping with the science."

Director Steve Simonson said his chief concern was social distancing.

"I just want to make it clear that we are not going to a three-feet of separation, but we will allow periods of time where people are separated by less than six feet, but will not go below three feet, and that's not just semantics," Simonson said. "It is a meaningful difference in how we approach this. I think the plan we put together approaches that in the right way."

Simonson said the district would continue to adhere to mitigating efforts and monitoring conditions to ensure students, staff, and faculty's safety and well-being.

About Rich Schwartzman

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.