Chambersburg students will return to school part-time as COVID-19 trends improve

Chambersburg Area School District will reopen for in-person instruction starting Monday. 

The school board voted 8-1 Tuesday night to move to a hybrid schedule as of March 1. Half of the student population will go to school Monday and Tuesday and participate in distance learning Thursday and Friday, and the other half will follow the opposite schedule. Wednesday will be an online learning support day. 

Special education and Level 1 English-as-a-second-language students will attend four days a week, Superintendent Dion Betts said. 

Kevin Mintz, school board vice president and Region 9 representative, said the move "comes with the hope that in a couple of weeks maybe we'll be talking about more students on a four-day-a-week type of return if these numbers keep coming down the way they are." 

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been steadily dropping locally and across the country. Current data put Franklin County in the "moderate" transmission category after being in the "substantial" level since the last week of October. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a county in the moderate category has between 5% and less than 10% of non-rapid tests coming up positive (positivity rate) or fewer than 100 out of 100,000 people with confirmed cases (incidence rate).

Franklin County's positivity rate was 6.9% in the seven-day period ending Feb. 18, almost two points lower than the week before, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state reported an incidence rate of 115, but the school district's COVID-19 advisor, Dr. Michael Colli of Keystone Health, provided newer data showing the rate at 90. 

"It is indeed good news," Betts said, as a graph showing the downward trend appeared on the screen at the virtual meeting. 

More:COVID-19 cases, deaths & hospitalizations are back around pre-spike levels in Franklin County

The numbers may be improving, but board member Sally Brooks, Region 8, told the community "we have to remain vigilant" and continue following mitigation efforts. 

"If we vote to go to hybrid I want people to realize that this is not the time to stop wearing your mask or have a big party. This is the time to allow our children to go back into school safely," she said before the vote. 

The district's approximately 9,000 students have attended school virtually full time almost all year. Students not enrolled in the district's separate cyber school program, Chambersburg Area Virtual Education (but known as CAVE), transitioned back to classrooms in the second half of October, but cases and hospitalizations began surging a few weeks later and all schools closed at Thanksgiving break.

All other school districts in the county closed around the same time and all but two returned by mid-January. Chambersburg had set a tentative Jan. 15 return,  but the board decided a few days before that to hold off while the county was still firmly at the substantial level and many of the cases were in the district's geographic area. 

Department of Education guidelines say districts in the substantial category should keep at least secondary students in full-time distance learning, but elementary can be on a hybrid schedule. Hybrid instruction for all students or full-time distance learning is recommended for those in the moderate category, and full in-person instruction is recommended for areas with low transmission. 

A key factor behind the district's move to distance learning in the fall was the number of teachers who were unable to come to work because they were in quarantine or sick. 

Teachers will be expected to physically come to work every day as of March 1, including on the Wednesday support day, but exceptions will be made when necessary, said Karen Gokay, the director of human resources. 

"History suggests a little flexibility will be needed because of the difficulty in making sure we have enough teaching staff," Betts added. "So, if push comes to shove, we might have to make some exceptions for the purpose of keeping schools open." 

More:COVID-19 has been no match for Franklin County's private schools

The move to hybrid next week was anticipated following a discussion earlier this month at a non-voting "committee of the whole" meeting. Plexiglass dividers for desks and masks are ready to go. 

Board member Michael Finucane, Region 7, made a motion that only elementary students return on a hybrid schedule March 1 and secondary students follow in two weeks. No one supported the motion, and Finuncane cast the only vote against all students returning. 

The school board will review how in-person learning has been going and COVID-19 data at the next "committee of the whole" meeting on March 16. If things are going well, they will discuss moving at least some students to four days a week of in-person learning. 

Betts said he would support full in-person learning in March if things continue on a good track. 

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.